So have total New Zealand deaths risen as a result? University of Otago public health professor Nick Wilson says a comparative rise in deaths, particularly during March, was fairly likely to have been influenced by a rise in Covid deaths. Recording pandemic deaths accurately is really hard – we know there are Covid deaths being recorded in New Zealand where Covid was not actually a factor. A ministry spokesperson said it was too early to assess the relationship between its recorded Covid deaths in March and the fluctuations seen in Stats NZ’s provisional weekly deaths' data. The largest loss in life expectancy between 2019 and 2021 for other countries studied was 0.93 years in England and Wales, and in Northern Ireland.

Source: Stuff April 25, 2022 01:29 UTC