კონფერენცია

∘ Lela Menabdishvili ∘
DEATHS CAUSED BY THE “KILLER VIRUS” IN GEORGIA

Summary

It is known that in the history of mankind there have been outbreaks of infections that have claimed the lives of millions more people than wars. At the beginning of last year, a new Coronavirus pandemic hit the world, which has already been dubbed the “killer virus”. When evaluating a virus as a “killer virus”, it is important to consider how much it affects the mortality rate. That is, whether we have an excess mortality rate. Georgia has experienced two waves of pandemics.

The first outbreak was relatively painless and with less loss of life. During the months of January to August 2020, 30,537 people died. This figure is 1,246 points behind the same figure for 2019 and 644 - for 2018. The decrease the mortality rate from all causes during the period was 30%, and from the first confirmed case - 18% including August. That is, during the first wave of the pandemic, a low mortality rate was maintained in Georgia.

As for the second wave, the number of infected people and, as a result, the death rate increased significantly. If the total number of deaths in the first ten months of 2020 was 0.6% less than the same figure in 2019, then at the end of the year (as of December 31) this figure was already 5% higher than the previous year. The excess mortality rate was 2,405. The total number of deaths from all causes in 2020 exceeds not only the total number of deaths in the previous year, but also in 2018 and 2017, and also is behind by 3% the total number of deaths in 2016.

We have to admit that during the "killer viral" pandemic, as it was referred to in the media, 1697 fewer people died than in 2016, when there was no viral pandemic. However, it should be noted that higher mortality rates were observed in 2012 (49,347), 2014 (49,087) and 2015 (49,121) years compared to 2020.

Infectious disease experts have suggested and warned the population that Coronavirus infection would be particularly severe for the elderly age group. They were considered a risk group. However, the mortality rate of infected people under the age of 70 is 13% higher than that of those aged 70-79, and 16% higher than that of those over the age of 79. The analysis of mortality rate by sex groups showed that the death rate of males died by Coronavirus was 10.8% higher than that of females. The mortality rate among men was 55.4%, and among women-44.6%.

Keywords: excess mortality rate, overall mortality rate.

Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University Paata Gugushvili Institute of Economics International Scientific C O N F E R E N C E S "ECONOMY – XXI CENTURY"

E ISSN 2587 - 4691	∘ Lela Menabdishvili ∘ DEATHS CAUSED BY THE “KILLER VIRUS” IN GEORGIA Summary It is known that in the history of mankind there have been outbreaks of infections that have claimed the lives of millions more people than wars. At the beginning of last year, a new Coronavirus pandemic hit the world, which has already been dubbed the “killer virus”. When evaluating a virus as a “killer virus”, it is important to consider how much it affects the mortality rate. That is, whether we have an excess mortality rate. Georgia has experienced two waves of pandemics. The first outbreak was relatively painless and with less loss of life. During the months of January to August 2020, 30,537 people died. This figure is 1,246 points behind the same figure for 2019 and 644 - for 2018. The decrease the mortality rate from all causes during the period was 30%, and from the first confirmed case - 18% including August. That is, during the first wave of the pandemic, a low mortality rate was maintained in Georgia. As for the second wave, the number of infected people and, as a result, the death rate increased significantly. If the total number of deaths in the first ten months of 2020 was 0.6% less than the same figure in 2019, then at the end of the year (as of December 31) this figure was already 5% higher than the previous year. The excess mortality rate was 2,405. The total number of deaths from all causes in 2020 exceeds not only the total number of deaths in the previous year, but also in 2018 and 2017, and also is behind by 3% the total number of deaths in 2016. We have to admit that during the "killer viral" pandemic, as it was referred to in the media, 1697 fewer people died than in 2016, when there was no viral pandemic. However, it should be noted that higher mortality rates were observed in 2012 (49,347), 2014 (49,087) and 2015 (49,121) years compared to 2020. Infectious disease experts have suggested and warned the population that Coronavirus infection would be particularly severe for the elderly age group. They were considered a risk group. However, the mortality rate of infected people under the age of 70 is 13% higher than that of those aged 70-79, and 16% higher than that of those over the age of 79. The analysis of mortality rate by sex groups showed that the death rate of males died by Coronavirus was 10.8% higher than that of females. The mortality rate among men was 55.4%, and among women-44.6%. Keywords: excess mortality rate, overall mortality rate.