SYNTHESIS INE@COVID-19, 22 mar-2021

March . 22 . 2021 SYNTH SIS IN @ COVID-19 www.ine.pt page 9/11 Communication Unit | tel: +351 21 842 61 10 | sci@ine.pt COVID-19 deaths in weeks 6 and 7 of 2021 accounted for 31.6% and 21.7% of total deaths, respectively In the first weeks of 2020, the number of deaths was generally lower than the average figures observed in the corresponding weeks of the 2015- -2019 period. In March, contrary to past trends, mortality began to increase, reaching a first peak between the 30 th of March and the 5 th of April, to which COVID-19 deaths contributed in part. A new peak of deaths was reached in mid-July, despite the reduced contribution of COVID-19 deaths to the increase in mortality. As the end of the year approached and in the beginning of 2021, this rise was increasingly explained by the increase in deaths attributed to COVID-19. Since the last week of 2020 (28 th of December to the 3rd of January 2021), the number of deaths increased continuously until week 3 (18 th to the 24 th of January), reaching then the highest weekly number of deaths observed since the start of the pandemic. In that same week, 5,026 people died (2,160 more than the 2015-2019 average) and the number of COVID-19 deaths was 1,693 (33.7% of total deaths). The total number of deaths began to decline in week 4 (25 th to the 31 st of January), although the highest number of weekly deaths attributed to COVID-19 (2,036) since the start of the pandemic had been recorded by then. 2020 and 2021 deaths and 2015-2019 average, by week, Portugal, week 1 of 2020 to week 7 of 2021 Mortality in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic 1 500 2 000 2 500 3 000 3 500 4 000 4 500 5 000 5 500 26-Jan 23-Feb 22-Mar 19-Apr 17-May 14-Jun 12-Jul 9-Aug 6-Sep 4-Oct 1-Nov 29-Nov 27-Dec 24-Jan 21-Feb No. last day of the week 2015-2019 max-min Deaths 2015-2019 average Deaths, excluding COVID-19 0 2021 2020 In weeks 6 and 7 of 2021, the number of deaths continued to decrease and there were 3,349 and 2,824 deaths in Portugal, respectively (6,173 in total). The excess mortality compared to the 2015-2019 average in the same weeks was 696 (+26.2%) and 175 deaths (+6.6%), respectively. The number of COVID-19 deaths in these weeks was 1,057 and 612, representing 31.6% and 21.7% of total deaths, respectively, values above the excess mortality. This meant that, excluding COVID-19 deaths, the mortality recorded in these two weeks would be below the average for the period 2015-2019.