COVID complications push Australian deaths to highest number in 40 years

The alarm has been sounded about COVID-19’s hidden impact as new data shows that the highest number of people have died in the March quarter of 2022 than in any of the last 41 years.

Australian Bureau of Statistics population data published on Wednesday shows an 18 per cent increase in deaths in the quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, rising from 36,100 to 46,200 deaths.

Dr Mike Freelander is the chair of a Senate inquiry into long COVID.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

It is the first time that more than 40,000 deaths were recorded over four consecutive quarters.

South-western Sydney Labor MP Dr Mike Freelander, Chair of the Senate inquiry into long COVID, said he was “very concerned” about higher-than-normal deaths in the pandemic and that more research was needed to ascertain why.

While the inquiry was focused on long COVID, he said, “there is a concern that COVID itself increases inflammatory responses, predisposes people to stroke and cardiovascular disease”.

“The other question is: are there risk factors, is there anything that can be done to modify the risk?” Freelander said.

The inquiry will collate data from scientific experts to gain insights into how COVID-19 impacts on Australians’ health after the initial infection.

Karen Cutter, spokeswoman for the Actuaries Institute COVID-19 Mortality Working Group, said about 6000 more people died in the March quarter than could be explained by the ageing population.

Half of these people died from COVID-19, she said, with a further 500 dying “with COVID”, their deaths from causes such as cancer, circulatory diseases and dementia likely to have been hastened by the pandemic.

The remaining 2500 people died from other causes. While it is unclear what, if any role COVID-19 may have played, a higher-than-usual number of deaths from strokes, heart disease, dementia and diabetes makes the working group suspect that it could be a factor.

“There are people who have had COVID and recovered, but it’s weakened their immune system [and] they’ve subsequently had a heart attack or stroke that might not necessarily be directly linked back to their COVID episode,” Cutter said.

“Having COVID increases your risk of these sorts of things.”

Another possible reason for the increase in deaths this year, she said, was that vulnerable people who were shielded from influenza or RSV in the winters of 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions had succumbed to these respiratory illnesses.

“There will have been some delayed deaths from those earlier years,” she said.

Undiagnosed COVID-19 was not expected to be a major contributor as people suspected to have died from the virus was being tested after death.

Assistant Health Minister Ged Kearney on Wednesday announced $6.3 million in funding for research led by Monash University to evaluate the immune response in children and high-risk populations, including adults with chronic conditions, to COVID-19.

The project aims to improve the care and outcomes for children and people with chronic diseases, including tailored treatments and vaccination schedules appropriate to children and high-risk groups.

Adults with chronic kidney and lung disease, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, rheumatic diseases, people living with HIV and organ transplant recipients will be among the patients to be studied.

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