Covid deaths in Louth one of the highest in the country

Louth was among the counties to record the highest number of deaths due to Covid-19, according to data released last week by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

211 deaths due to Covid-19 occurred in Louth between March 2020 and February 2022, according to the figures released by the CSO. Of the 211 deaths, 82 were aged 85 years and older; 69 were aged between 75 and 84 years; 31 aged between 65 and 74 years and 17 between 55 and 64 years.

Nine people were aged between 45 and 64 years, a further two people were aged between 25 and 34 years, while the youngest person in Louth whose death occurred due to Covid-19, was aged between 15 and 24 years old.

The only counties which saw a higher number of deaths due to Covid-19 than Louth were Dublin (Dublin City Council – 951; South Dublin County Council – 390; Fingal County Council – 278; Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council – 264); Cork (Cork County Council – 284; Cork City Council – 228); Kildare (279); and Limerick City and County Council (263).

In deaths between March 2020 and February 2022, COVID-19 was identified as the underlying cause of death in 5,384 cases in the State.

Included in the data released by the CSO, was the place of occurrence of Covid-19 deaths. While it does not provide details on a county basis, it does show that of the 5,384 deaths that occurred in the State, 1,564 occurred in nursing homes. It is known that in Louth, of the 211 deaths, 23 occurred at the Dealgan House Nursing Home during the first wave of Covid-19 in April and May 2020. Families of the bereaved at Dealgan House continue to push for a public inquiry into the deaths of their loved ones.

The breakdown of the other deaths that occurred in the State are as follows: 3,176 were in general and orthopaedic hospitals; occurred in a domiciliary setting, 183 in community hospitals; 106 in private hospitals; 57 in hospices; 12 in psychiatric hospitals; one in an oncology hospital; and 28 elsewhere.

The analysis by the CSO focuses on deaths where COVID-19 was found to have been the underlying cause of death (UCOD). A death certificate may list multiple causes of death, based on which the UCOD is identified by applying specific guidelines from the World Health Organization A death due to COVID-19 differs from a death with COVID-19 in that COVID-19 is identified as the underlying cause of death in the former but not in the latter.