Covid Deaths By Age In Canada Compared To The US

[WestCanMan]

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1228632/number-covid-deaths-canada-by-age/

In Canada 61% of covid deaths occurred in people over 80 yrs of age.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1191568/reported-deaths-from-covid-by-age-us/

In the US only 51.4% of covid deaths occurred among people over 75 years of age. (For some reason Statista breaks down the age categories in our countries differently)

This is the first time that I ever noticed this huge difference. We have 10% more of our Canadian deaths among those 80 and up than the US has among 75 and up. 

Over such a huge sample size in two countries that are so similar, I expected the stats to be a lot closer. Or almost the same.

What do you think is the main cause of this?

The first two things that spring to my mind are:

1) obesity (BMI over 30%) rates among Americans is 5-10% higher, which adds a lot of younger people into covid's target demographic.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/378988/us-obesity-rate-by-state/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/748339/share-of-canadians-overweight-or-obese-based-on-bmi/

If there was a stat for morbidly obese it would probably tip the scales even further towards the US.

2) maybe 'covid deaths' are counted differently here. 

Canada covid death counter: https://www.cpsbc.ca/news/publications/college-connector/volume-8-no-2-mar-apr-2020

Quote

The following information was submitted by the BC Vital Statistics Agency and Statistics Canada to ensure deaths due to COVID-19 are properly certified for data accuracy.

With the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 a pandemic and subsequent increasing mortality from the virus worldwide, there is increased importance on certifying these deaths correctly. 

1. Recording COVID-19 on the medical certificate of cause of death

• COVID-19 should be recorded on the medical certificate of cause of death for all decedents where the disease caused, or is assumed to have caused, or contributed to death.

2. Terminology

• The use of official terminology, as recommended by the World Health Organization (i.e. COVID-19) should be used for all certification of this cause of death.
• As there are many types of coronaviruses it is recommended not to use “coronavirus” in place of COVID-19. This will help to reduce uncertainty for coding and monitoring these deaths which may lead to underreporting.

**Snip**

4. Co-morbidities

• There is increasing evidence that people with existing chronic conditions or compromised immune systems due to disability are at greater risk of death due to COVID-19. Chronic conditions may be non-communicable diseases such as coronary artery disease, COPD, and diabetes or disabilities. If the decedent had existing chronic conditions, such as those listed above, these should be listed in Part II of the medical certificate of cause of death. 
  
  Example:

Other significant conditions contributing to death but not related to the disease or conditions causing it:

1. Coronary artery disease
2. Type 2 diabetes
3. COPD

So, in Canada, anyone who had covid even just be a minor contributor to their death is listed as death by covid.

I couldn't find a quick summary for the US. I only looked for a couple minutes, but I'm done. I think I recently heard a quote that anyone who tested positive in the last 30 days counts as a covid death, but don't quote me on that. I'm not sure. 

 

 

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[Nexii]

Probably that if you're under 65 in the USA and poor you just don't get healthcare. Whereas seniors get emergency care under Medicare.

[Moonlight Graham]

Maybe under 65 people aren't getting vaxxed as much or states aren't doing lockdowns.

[myata]

Obesity what is the rate in the US?

[WestCanMan]

7 hours ago, myata said:

Obesity what is the rate in the US?

I didn't find the stat for the whole country, but the state by state numbers are in a link in the OP. Some are as high as 39%, some are under 24%. There are 35 states with a BMI above 30%. Safe to say that it's much higher than 30%.

Oddly enough the obesity rate in Hawaii is only 24%. I wonder of the number of military personnel is the reason for that, because the last time I was in Hawaii (about 1989), I saw a crazy amount of HUUUUUUUUUUGE people there. Like, BMI 50+. 

[WestCanMan]

12 hours ago, Moonlight Graham said:

Maybe under 65 people aren't getting vaxxed as much or states aren't doing lockdowns.

Vaxed deaths under 30 were basically nothing here from Jan 2020 thru June of 2021, the first month when there was a significant amount of dbl-vaxed people here. Vaccinations among the 5-30 crowd don't do much in the way of saving lives. The rate goes from negligible to negligible.  Except maybe in the juvenile type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes demographic. 

This article says that 30-40% of the people who are hospitalized have diabetes, and if you Google it you'll see that only about 10% of the population of the US has diabetes, so they're having severe reactions 3-4x as often as healthier people do.