COVID-19 makes final months of 2020 the deadliest in years

The final months of 2020 were Malta’s deadliest in years, with a steep rise in mortality linked to the growing number of COVID-19 deaths, figures show.
Figures published last week by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical body, showed Malta registering 37.5% more deaths in November than the average in the same month of the previous four years.
The increase was slightly lower in September and October – 22.2 and 21.1% respectively – but starting in July, Malta’s additional deaths were consistently above the EU average.
The statistics are for the total number of deaths and do not give any specific cause.

However, one of Malta’s top epidemiologists, Neville Calleja, told Times of Malta the rates are clearly correlated with the number of COVID-19 deaths registered during the period.
“The number of excess deaths gives us a very good overview of what is happening, not just in Malta but elsewhere too. The numbers went up when the COVID-19 deaths went up and so it is very likely that the bulk of the increase is a result of that,” Calleja said.
An increase in deaths could also result from what Calleja said was an “indirect effect” of the pandemic: people failing to seek treatment out of fear of...