The summer heat and the different respiratory viruses encountered during the year have contributed to the growth in the mortality rate in 2022, despite the fact that the incidence of covid was much less intense than it was during the previous two years.
This is one of the main conclusions that can be drawn from the data showing the number of weekly deaths that was carried out by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
During the period December 27, 2021 up to December 26, 2022, a total of 18,328 people died in the province of Alicante, 24 more than in the previous period of 52 calendar weeks.
Throughout the last year there were no specific episodes of very high mortality but with coronavirus under control the number of deaths were expected to fall, however, the volume of deaths generally remained higher throughout the whole year than in previous years.
Indeed there were some specific spikes in deaths, although they were not as high as at the height of the pandemic, but their sustained levels has contributed to the final result for 2022 slightly exceeding that of the previous year.
The statistics do not indicate the causes of the deaths, but the peaks do coincide with specific health crisis situations, whether due to the covid, high temperatures or other respiratory viruses such as the flu, which became more lethal in the final few months of the year, and are still very active right now.
The week during 2022 with the most deaths in the province of Alicante was from January 25 to 31 , in which there were 450, in the midst of the sixth wave of the coronavirus pandemic, followed by the previous week, from January 18 to 24, with 430.
The third highest number of deaths was recorded from July 19 to 25, in the midst of the intense period of summer heat, with 421. The 400 deaths were also exceeded in a few more weeks of January and July.
