Covid-19 deaths: Which governments have failed? 13 June

Posted by in Economics, Health, Politics

The latest worldwide average death rate is 55 per one million people, up from 51 one week ago. Figures are from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control situation report to Saturday 13th June. Here’s the updated list of countries with death rates more than twice that average:

Territory/Area Country Deaths per million
Europe San Marino 1238
Europe Belgium 832
Europe Andorra 660
Europe United Kingdom 611
Europe Spain 580
Europe Italy 566
Europe Sweden 481
Europe France 450
Europe Netherlands 353
Americas Sint Maarten (Dutch part) 350
Americas United States 346
Europe Ireland 345
Europe Jersey 297
Europe Isle of Man 282
Americas Ecuador 217
Americas Canada 213
Americas Montserrat 200
Americas Brazil 197
Europe Switzerland 194
Europe Guernsey 194
Americas Peru 191
Europe Luxembourg 176
Americas Chile 150
Europe Portugal 148
Americas Bermuda 145
Americas Mexico 128
Europe Monaco 127

Death rates are the best measures of a national government’s effectiveness, because in many countries with poor pandemic management, the total number of cases is severely under-reported. From these results, it is clear that many nations which put business ahead of evidence-based health advice have higher death rates.

Some nations with lower death rates have also benefited from being able to learn from nations hit earlier, or due to low visitor numbers from China. Others had established pandemic testing expertise and/or social isolation cultures for influenza, and possibly better immune profiles yet to be understood.

The second table below shows nations with death rates already above the worldwide average ranked by percentage increase in the last two weeks, to highlight those governments whose current pandemic management is not proving effective:

Country Deaths/M-2weeks Deaths/M Percent change
Chile 49 150 206
Armenia 40 87 117
Mexico 73 128 75
Brazil 131 197 50
Kuwait 45 67 49
Peru 128 191 49
Macedonia 60 82 37
Moldova 71 95 34
Panama 76 98 29
Canada 185 213 15
Ecuador 189 217 15
Iran 91 103 13
Romania 64 72 12
Sweden 431 481 12
United States 311 346 11
Portugal 136 148 9
United Kingdom 562 611 9
Turkey 53 57 8
Hungary 54 57 6
Denmark 98 103 5
Finland 57 59 4
Germany 101 105 4
Ireland 333 345 4
Italy 550 566 3
Jersey 287 297 3
Belgium 815 832 2
France 440 450 2
Netherlands 346 353 2
Switzerland 191 194 2
Austria 74 75 1

The long term picture is still unclear. These results will be revised each weekend, or you can view a chart and add your own selection of data and countries at this link: Ourworldindata.org

Under-reporting of rest-home deaths in the UK have now been revised, but many other nations will never report accurate totals. Citizens there will get an indication of trend from public statistics, but must judge the true scale of deaths from community and hospital experience. However, post-pandemic statistics on unexplained changes in national death rates will reveal the extent of under-counting in the next year or two.

Full table for all countries below:

Territory/Area Country Deaths per million
Europe San Marino 1238
Europe Belgium 832
Europe Andorra 660
Europe United Kingdom 611
Europe Spain 580
Europe Italy 566
Europe Sweden 481
Europe France 450
Europe Netherlands 353
Americas Sint Maarten (Dutch part) 350
Americas United States 346
Europe Ireland 345
Europe Jersey 297
Europe Isle of Man 282
Americas Ecuador 217
Americas Canada 213
Americas Montserrat 200
Americas Brazil 197
Europe Switzerland 194
Europe Guernsey 194
Americas Peru 191
Europe Luxembourg 176
Americas Chile 150
Europe Portugal 148
Americas Bermuda 145
Americas Mexico 128
Europe Monaco 127

Source: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) – Situation Report Worldwide, 13 June 2020.