Over 160 COVID-19 fatalities logged as ‘home deaths’ in 2022

Deaths of at least 161 COVID-19 patients in January and February were categorized as home deaths, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun

survey.

e Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry includes COVID-19 deaths at medical facilities that occur shortly after hospitalization in its categorization of home deaths.

e number of such deaths signi cantly increased compared to during the h wave of the pandemic in August and September. It is believed that some of the patients had underlying health conditions and were unaware that they had contracted the virus.

e survey was completed by midMarch on 47 prefectures and 40 cities that independently compile tallies of COVID-19 deaths in areas under their jurisdiction.

e health ministry’s home-death categorization comprises (1) people who had tested positive but died before a public health center had been noti ed; (2) people who had been recuperating at home; (3) people who had been awaiting hospitalization; (4) people who were con rmed positive a er dying at home; and (5) people who died in the hospital and were con rmed positive while or a er being transported to a medical facility.

e Yomiuri Shimbun surveyed prefectural and municipal governments on home deaths as de ned by these ve categories. Of the 87 local governments surveyed, 11 did not respond, citing such reasons as privacy protection.

According to the survey, 161 cases were categorized as home deaths in the latest wave of the pandemic compared to 128 in the h wave last year.

Deaths of people who were con rmed positive while or a er being transported to a medical facility increased from six in the h wave to 50 in the latest wave.

During the h wave when the delta variant was prevalent, patients tended to show symptoms of pneumonia and few COVID-19 victims died unaware they had the disease.

However, the omicron variant — the dominant variant in the sixth wave — causes mild or no symptoms a er infection in many cases. As a result, it is thought that many patients who died at home did not know they had the disease.

In Fukuoka Prefecture, 11 of the 21 fatalities categorized as home deaths in the latest wave involved people who tested positive shortly a er hospitalization. Eight of the 11 patients were 70 or older, and some of them reportedly had chronic illnesses.

“ere have been cases in which preexisting illnesses worsened as a result of the infection,” said an o cial of the prefectural government’s COVID-19 task force. “As infections surged amid the sixth wave, some people might have avoided going to the hospital.”

On the other hand, deaths of patients recuperating at home a er testing positive for the virus fell by four from the

h wave, with 61 such cases in the latest wave.

e highest number of such deaths were logged in Tokyo, with 15 cases.

Unlike in the h wave, many patients in the latest wave did not develop pneumonia symptoms, and some elderly victims did not want to be hospitalized, citing such reasons as mild symptoms.

“Although the omicron variant is believed to cause mild symptoms in many cases, the condition of people with preexisting heart or kidney diseases and elderly patients may worsen if they become infected. So caution is needed,” said Norio Omagari, director of the Disease Control and Prevention Center at the National Center for Global Health and Medicine. “Patients who want to recuperate at home should see a doctor without delay if they notice anything wrong.” (April 4)