Deaths from Covid are far from over. This year there have been nearly 1000 deaths in New Zealand directly attributed to Covid-19.

This is nearly three times the average number of people who die on our roads each year, and nearly double the average suicide deaths. 

While heart disease, cerebrovascular diseases like strokes and lung and colon cancer remain our top killers, Covid's killed more people this year than breast cancer, diabetes or pneumonia.

The 926 deaths are directly attributed to Covid-19, either as an underlying or contributory cause. Previously, the Ministry of Health had used a definition of 'deceased' that included deaths within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19. Now, their definition only includes deaths attributed to Covid-19, which is the number we have used.

For the average deaths from other causes: Te Whatu Ora has not yet released the 2023 data for deaths from other causes, so we have used the yearly average rate across 2011-2020, the most recent available data.

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