Slovakia has recorded more deaths in 2021 than in any year since World War II, data published by the Slovakian newspaper Denník N revealed.
Even with the data for December not yet complete, the death rate in the country has risen by almost 20 percent on last year — 64,000 people died in Slovakia from January to November 2021, compared with the 53,000 deaths recorded for the whole of the previous year.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, a thousand people died on average each week in Slovakia. The Denník N newspaper suggests the excess number of deaths was highly likely caused either directly by the pandemic or, indirectly, by poorer access to health care.
The increase in mortality rates was particularly prevalent in the Prešov region, hit the hardest by the pandemic. Meanwhile, areas where a higher percentage of the population is vaccinated recorded closer to average figures, namely in the Bratislava, Trnava, and Nitra regions.
There are currently 2,920 Slovaks in hospitals diagnosed with Covid-19. A total of 816,102 people have tested positive for Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, of which 16,198 people have died.
More than 2.5 million Slovaks have now been vaccinated against the disease.
