“60% of Czech COVID-19 Patients Died of Other Health Issues,” Says Expert

Sixty percent of people whose deaths are in Czech coronavirus statistics did not die primarily of COVID-19, according to the Institute of Health Information and Statistics (ÚZIS) director Ladislav Dušek.

Dušek talked about the ÚZIS findings at a professional conference called “What we know and do not know about COVID-19” organized by Charles University in Prague.

His data points out that most of the deceased coronavirus patients suffered from other chronic diseases, which include heart disease, respiratory system issues, or diabetes.

The data comes at a time when many at the international level are questioning how many are truly dying from coronavirus and how many are dying from underlying diseases. The question is especially important in regard to determining when lockdowns in many countries should end.

Among the 317 people who died with coronavirus in the Czech Republic, there were 185 men and 132 women. One-third of all deaths were among people over 85 years of age and another more than a third of deaths in the 75 to 84 age group.

Almost a quarter of coronavirus patients who died were 65 to 74 years old. Only 29 deaths occurred among people under the age of 64, and only one person was under 34.

The ÚZIS institute processed data on deceased coronavirus patients focusing on age and chronic diseases. Among people over the age of 60, more than 70 percent had cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure, while in the age group of people older than 80, it was over 80 percent.

About a third of deceased coronavirus patients between the ages of 60 and 89 had diabetes and a quarter of them suffered from digestive system diseases. In the case of victims over 90, 37 percent of them had digestive problems.

In the group of people under the age of 60, about 16 percent had heart disease and the same share of people had digestive disease, with another ten percent suffering from diabetes.

However, Dušek pointed out that there were only a few cancer patients who died with coronavirus.

Currently, about 60 to 70 percent of all patients with COVID-19 have more than one chronic disease, added Dušek.

Although since the beginning of the epidemic, age has been considered as one of the main risk factors, currently, experts think that those with chronic diseases are at a much higher risk of fatality than using the factor of age alone.