Western Australia recorded 18 deaths where COVID-19 was the only condition listed on the patient’s death certificate in the first six months of its Omicron wave, data has revealed.
Australian Bureau of Statistics COVID-19 provisional mortality figures showed since Omicron began circulating in the community to June 30 the state recorded 902,000 cases and 192 deaths from the virus.
In the majority of COVID-linked deaths people had pre-existing chronic conditions, most commonly heart conditions or dementia, and coronavirus led to fatal complications such as pneumonia or renal failure.
Patients who died with incidental COVID-19, rather than due to COVID-19, are not included in the data.
Hospital figures, obtained by WAtoday under Freedom of Information laws, separately showed how many COVID-19 patients on ventilators have died in Perth’s major hospitals this year.
To May 31, Fiona Stanley Hospital recorded two deaths, Royal Perth Hospital recorded nine, and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital did not respond by deadline.
The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine WA chair, Dr Peter Allely, said it was more common for the virus to tip the balance of a person’s health, leading to death, rather than cause severe lung disease which would require ventilation.
“The horrible chest X-rays that we all saw from Wuhan and Italy when COVID-19 started, we’re just not seeing that in Western Australia much at all,” he said.
“For nearly everybody, it’s just tipping the balance of their underlying medical condition much like any other infection would do, but just with a bit more vigour.”
The median age for a person who has died while infected with COVID-19 in Australia is 84.7 years old.
Deakin University chair in epidemiology Professor Catherine Bennett said the older age explained why most of WA’s COVID-19 deaths were occurring outside hospitals, with some people in aged care homes choosing not to be transferred.
“When people are very frail sometimes a cold could be enough to tip someone over, it doesn’t take much for a system that is really just coping to be overwhelmed,” she said.
“COVID-19 is a more severe infection, even in a mild form, so it’s still going to lift the number of deaths we are seeing and we’re seeing it outside of the normal flu season so if someone gets through a flu season, they might survive to the next, but now they might be exposed to COVID-19 all year round and that’s an extra challenge.”
Statistics compiled by Bennett showed WA’s death rate for COVID recently was 25 per cent less than the national average.
As WA comes down from its third Omicron wave peak, Curtin University epidemiologist Archie Clements said the lower fatality rate was the result of the state’s high vaccine coverage and its dominant strain being the milder Omicron variant.
“I think we’re unlikely to see the health service being overburdened by COVID-19 in the near future unless there is a completely new variant that emerges that is more pathogenic and where there is no cross-protection,” he said.
“We’ll keep getting waves but I would expect that overtime the size of those waves will continue to decline and eventually, we will end up at some endemic state where we will have smaller numbers of cases that may cause outbreaks in the winter seasons.
“Overtime our vaccine immunity is going to wane in fact it already has for the majority of people in the population who haven’t had their third or fourth shot, but the majority of people have now been exposed which will induce some natural immunity and protect people.”
WA Health statistics showed to date just over 1 million COVID-19 cases have been in the community this year, with 4814 people admitted to hospital and 213 to intensive care.
Modelling released by the Telethon Kids Institute in April predicted up to 147,000 infections by the end of July, and up to 740 deaths.
Premier Mark McGowan conceded previous forecasts by the state government had also been inaccurate at predicting the severity of the virus.
“We don’t know where [the COVID-19 numbers] will go, but what I find with modelling is it’s always wrong and so I think you’ve got to actually take account of the lived experience,” he said.
“The best thing people can do is wear a mask in a crowded indoor environment and make sure you get tested and stay home if you are positive.”
NB: Hospitals were unable to provide the vaccination status of those who died on ventilators.
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