So, if COVID was only responsible for 9K deaths, WTF caused all the excess deaths compared to last year? Because that's 200K people dead from "something", if it's not COVID. That's about 10% over the expected mortality. Something's doing it and if it's not COVID, what?
Too early to say for sure. Probably a mixture of several things, such as:
- COVID pushed some dying people over the edge sooner. In which case, the rate should taper off next year after the season flu does its usual number.
- Speaking of which, just how bad was the flu this year? There were hints a few times that it might be rough, but the numbers are getting mangled in the poor COVID testing process. If a patient gets pushed over the edge by COVID the hospital or nursing home makes more money than if the same patient dies from the flu. The COVID tests are picking up other viruses. Don't even try to tell me that this isn't being abused--the only question is how much.
- How many people did the lockdown kill? We'll probably never know for sure, but it definitely killed some--e.g. people with dangerous but not killing heart attacks refusing to get care because of fear of COVID, then suffering a second attack. Suicide rate is up.
That's all on top of the fact that even a variation on the flu, like COVID, is still deadly to some people. We get a nasty variation on the actual flu every 10 to 20 years that kills at about the same rate as COVID, and probably for the same reasons.
Not to be callous about it--but as an imperfect analogy, consider what a nasty winter or particularly hot and dry summer does to living things. It kills them--including some that made it through the last few such lesser winters or summers. Things that could handle a few 20 degree days or a stretch of 90 degrees with a little rain can't handle a couple of weeks of around zero degrees or almost two months of 100 degrees and no rain. Heck, those conditions even kill a few people--usually elderly and sick ones.