Certification and monitoring of deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

The SARS CoV-2 pandemic which began late in 2019 has caused and continues to cause much morbidity and mortality worldwide. It was declared a pandemic by WHO on 11 March 2020. Up to 26 May 2021 there has been 167,848,565 reported cases of COVID-19 worldwide and 3,485,787 reported deaths. Malta reported its first case locally on 7 March 2020 and its first death a month later, on 8 April 2020. Though geographical disparities in incidence of COVID-19 are evident across the globe, the geographical distribution of COVID-19 deaths shows even wider disparities between some continents and also between countries. However the situation is still evolving all the time, with unprecedented cases and deaths being currently observed in India. At an EU level (+ the United Kingdom) cumulative crude mortality rate due to COVID-19 per million population in Malta compares well with the other member states.