Belgium's public health institute Sciensano revealed on Wednesday that the excess mortality rate this summer was the highest recorded in the season since 2003.
The main factors for this record rise were the combination of the unusually hot summer and continued Covid-19 fatalities.
As a heatwave engulfed Europe in July 2022, followed by a nationwide heatwave in Belgium during the month of August, the Federal Government activated the warning phase of its ozone and heat plan.
The strategy was established to safeguard residents in instances of excessive heat after the devastating heatwave of 2003, which resulted in an excess mortality rate of 14% that summer.
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Unfortunately, there were a total of 2,291 deaths (out of 42,383) that were marked down as excess mortalities by the Belgian Mortality Monitoring, 5.7% higher than they had expected, a record high unseen in the last two decades.
This is also due to Covid-19 once again contributing to the rate with 1,098 deaths during the summer, especially among women aged 85 and over.
