Excess mortality in Spain is the highest in the EU. | Archive

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The MoMo system of monitoring daily mortality for all causes is operated by the Carlos III Health Institute in Madrid. According to MoMo data for 2022, excess mortality in the Balearics is 398% higher than it was in 2020, the first year of the Covid pandemic.

Joan Carles March, specialist in public health and preventive medicine, points to temperature - heat or cold - having been a factor. In 2020, there were 288 excess deaths, 28 of which were attributable to temperature. In 2021, there were 746 excess deaths. Of these, sixty can be attributed to heat or cold. In 2022, there have so far been 1,436 excess deaths, of which 72 were due to temperature. March notes that the greatest numbers of excess deaths in 2022 have been in July (216) and August (228).

He believes that a reason for the excess mortality rate is the "health deficit", i.e. delays to appointments and "poor control" of chronic patients. Another is the "deterioration of health among vulnerable people who survived Covid".

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In his view, "more surprising and disturbing are the data from 2021, when, and according to the Carlos III Health Institute, there was an excess of almost 25,000 deaths in Spain, the origin of which is not detailed". Another measurement system, Eurostat, indicates that excess mortality in Spain between March and June 2022 was higher than any other EU country - 48,000.

March says that there is a theory that the higher mortality has to do with the ability of the coronavirus to infect and to cause deaths of a vascular origin. He also notes that there are "some theories, widely disseminated on certain forums and that I do not believe, which suggest that the cause of excess mortality is due to complications derived from mass vaccination against Covid".

"Excess deaths in 2021 and in 2022 have given rise to much speculation. Ignorance leads to speculation, which is followed by rumour mills. In the end, there are theories for all tastes." This is a reason, however, why he considers that "a serious and complete investigation is urgently needed" into excess mortality rates.