Excess of all-cause mortality is only partially explained by COVID-19 in Veneto (Italy) during spring outbreak

BackgroundItaly has been the first European country to be affected by the COVID-19 epidemic which started out at the end of February. In this report, we focus our attention on the Veneto Region, in the North-East of Italy, which is one of the areas that were first affected by the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2. We aim to evaluate the trend of all-cause mortality and to give a description of the characteristics of the studied population.MethodsData used in the analyses were released by the majority of municipalities and cover the 93% of the total population living in the Veneto Region. We evaluated the trend of overall mortality from Jan.01 to Jun.30. 2020. Moreover we compared the COVID-19-related deaths to the overall deaths.ResultsFrom March 2020, the overall mortality rate increased exponentially, affecting males and people aged >76 the most. The confirmed COVID-19-related death rate in the Veneto region between Mar.01 and Apr.302020 is 30 per 100,000 inhabitants. In contrast, the all-cause mortality increase registered in the same months in the municipalities included in the study is 219 per 100,000 inhabitants.ConclusionsCOVID-19 has a primary role in the increase in mortality but does not entirely explain such a high number of deaths. Strategies need to be developed to reduce this gap in case of future waves of the pandemic.

Automated summary

From March 2020, the overall mortality rate in the Veneto region increased exponentially, affecting males and individuals aged over 76 the most. The confirmed COVID-19-related death rate in the Veneto region between March 1 and April 30, 2020 is 30 per 100,000 inhabitants. However, the all-cause mortality increase in the municipalities included in the study during the same period is 219 per 100,000 inhabitants.