CSO data shows a spike in deaths during first wave of pandemic 

There was an increased number of deaths in April according to new CSO data, which may indicate that there were more deaths in Ireland overall as a result of Covid, especially during the first wave of the pandemic when the virus ravaged nursing homes.

There was a spike in the number of deaths in Ireland during the first wave of the pandemic, official figures from the Central Statistics Office have revealed. 

A CSO analysis of death notices website, Rip.ie, has found the number of death notices rose from 2,861 in March to 3,502 in April.

The CSO also compared deaths in April of this year to the same month between 2013 and 2017, when the average was approximately 2,500 deaths, meaning April 2020 had just over 1,000 deaths above average. 

This may indicate that there were more deaths in Ireland overall as a result of Covid-19, especially during the first wave of the pandemic when the virus ravaged nursing homes.

The next highest number of deaths recorded in April from the last five years was 2,594 in April 2018, which meant April 2020 saw 900 more deaths than the previous high.

Overall, excess mortality from March-September of this year is estimated to be between 876 and 1,192 deaths.  

However, the number of deaths appears to have stabilised in recent months — the CSO observed 2,353 death notices on Rip.ie in September, which they say is broadly in line with mortality statistics in previous years.  

CSO data also showed an increase in people dying at home when compared to previous years, which may indicate that people feel safer at home than in hospital or in a residential setting.

In October 2019, 16.1% of deaths were recorded in the home but, in September of this year, 25.8% of all death notices had the home listed as the place of death.

Previously, the Irish Hospice Foundation said they had noticed an increase in people requesting to go home to die, and called for more in-home palliative care to support people's dying wishes.  

The use of data from Rip.ie was considered experimental, as the CSO has a policy of "careful and considered investigation of a data source before employing it to inform official statistics".  

However, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the CSO began to explore ways of obtaining up-to-date mortality data, and they found Rip.ie to be a relatively reliable source.

"Due to the Irish custom of holding funerals within two to three days following death, these notices are usually placed in a fast and efficient manner, providing a valuable crowd-sourced means of tracking deaths," said John Flanagan, a CSO statistician.

"The notices are placed close to 'real time', given that we found the average length of time between date of death and publication is about 1.1 days. 

"In comparison, the statutory time limit is three months for the registration of deaths in the State."