Thread by @jvipondmd

Time for a thread. Now that we are "post-pandemic" what is the impact of this "endemic" disease on people and society, from a strictly mortality perspective?
(quotation marks intentional)
Let's take a look at the Alberta data. 1/

Our respiratory "season" closes this wk. Currently deaths are at 715, up 10 from prev wk. With an av of about 10/wk recently, and a lag in reporting, I suspect we'll end up at at least 730 for the 12 month period.
Is that a lot? should we care?
source:
2/ alberta.ca/stats/dashboar…

We have good data from prev year's causes of mortaliy, found in this spreadsheet:
Recall that in Canada (and AB) for 2022 COVID was the 3rd leading cause of death at 1547. (2021 2nd at 1950)
3/ open.alberta.ca/opendata/leadi…

so this year about half of 2022. Yay? or is it.
If we compare to prepandemic data (2019) 730 would be 6th leading cause of death. Not truly fair because of population growth and increased mortality due to unknown reasons (what could it be?) since 2019. 4/

If we compare to 2022 data, (removing "other ill-defined and unknown causes of mortality" it would be tied with Diabetes for 7th.
5/

My point is: it is still firmly in the top 10 causes of mortality. And is by far the worst infectious disease cause of death (pneumonia, the next biggest, by contrast, in 2022, was 16th). NO other infectious disease in the top 30.
6/

And yet we try to stop other infectious diseases. Pneumonia, measles, TB etc, all have efforts to stop spread and decrease mortality.
E.coli in daycares even gets an independent review.
But COVID, being endemic, pffftt. What can one do? You do you.

7/calgaryherald.com/news/e-coli-ou…

ONe more addendum. Back to the nebulous "other ill-defined and unknown causes of mortality"
This wording never appeared until 2019.
It was 10th in 2019. 4th in 2020. 1st!!!!! in 2021. and 3rd. in 2022.
8/

Questions:
What is this class comprised of?
Will they ever be reclassified into another category?
Why did they peak in 2021, the same year that COVID-19 deaths peak?
Why did this class only appear in 2019?
OK, gotta run. thanks everyone for still caring. fin/

Oh, a few quick add-ons. (2 more posts)
I'm not the only one to comment on this.

fin +1calgary.ctvnews.ca/deaths-with-un…

AND NO IT'S NOT VACCINES CAUSING THE UNKNOWN DEATHS (not that you would manipulate this for some anti-vaxx cause).
But by not defining the deaths, Alberta sure helps the conspiracty theorists theorize.
fin+2
calgary.ctvnews.ca/vaccines-not-c…