Thousands more Canadians have died than would have were it not for the pandemic – Stats Canada
Delayed medical procedures, substance abuse cited
Stats Canada says more than 19-thousand Canadians lost their lives during COVID-19 than would have had the pandemic never happened.
While acknowledging more than 25-thousand people have died as a direct result of contracting the virus, Stats Can notes many others have died due to delayed medical procedures. It also suggests a rise in substance abuse during the pandemic has contributed to a number of deaths.
Conversely, the agency also says some lives may have been spared due to measures taken to counteract COVID-19. Some of those measures prevented the seasonal flu from spreading as it had in years previous.
The highest number of these ‘collateral’ deaths occurred during the spring and fall of 2020.
Stats Can says it will release a more comprehensive picture of how many more people have directly, or indirectly, died as a result of the pandemic by the end of November.
