New ABS data on COVID deaths reveals underlying risks

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• By Avi Yemini

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In 96.8% of the 2,639 Covid-related deaths recorded in Australia between March 2020 and January 2021, Covid was listed as the underlying cause of death – based on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The data confirms what many in the medical industry have observed for a while – that the biggest risk factor in Covid deaths appears to be age. Of the deaths listed above, the average age for men was 81, while the average age of women who died was 86. As of 2019, life expectancy in Australia sits at 82.9.

However, of these Covid fatalities, the vast majority (91.4%) had other serious conditions listed on the death certificate. The average Covid death had three other contributing factors in their death.

Many of these conditions were chronic, serious, or life-threatening on their own.

35.8% related to chronic cardiac disease, 14.1% had some type of cancer, and 20.6% had developed diabetes. Other conditions included infections (such as sepsis) and a range of repository illnesses including Pneumonia – which was often seen to develop with Covid.

In another set of data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics ending at July 31, 2021 – Dementia was listed as the most common pre-existing chronic condition in Covid deaths. In the later portion of the pandemic where Omicron and other milder variants had replaced Delta, the average age of death had risen to 85.2 for men and 88.4 for women. Many of the deaths during this period were for individuals over 90. In every age category, men died at a high rate than women.

This crucial information about relative risk was rarely disclosed by Premiers or Chief Health Officers during their daily briefings, where deaths were often read off with only ages and vaccination status listed.

“We’re not overplaying the situation and we’re not ignoring the victims, but these records expose the overblown scare campaign we’ve witnessed,” said Ben Fordham on 2GB.

Fordham went on to compare the small number of Covid deaths to the far larger 32,000 deaths from heart disease and 100,000 from Cancer and questioned the focused campaign of fear for deaths that equated to less than 1%.

“Why aren’t we warning people that on one of the biggest risk factors is carrying around too much weight. Were we worried about fat-shaming?”

According to the CDC, obesity is associated with a significantly higher risk of hospitalisation and death. In November 2020, America reported that 30.2% of its Covid hospitalisations were related to obesity. The British Medical Journal reported that, ‘Covid death rates are 10 times higher in countries where more than half of the adult population is classified as overweight, a comprehensive report from the World Obesity Federation has found.’

Lockdown measures and banning people from gyms has lead to nationwide weight gains, arguably increasing the risk for some individuals.

The BBC reported that more than 40% of adults gained weight during the pandemic, while one in three Australians have put on the pounds. News GP also notes that Australians were the world leaders in pandemic alcohol consumption – possible because it was one of the only shops that state governments kept open during lockdown.

Multiple studies have reported that young people who are obese put themselves at far greater risk of hospitalisation by being overweight.