Covid-19: 300 fewer people died during lockdown, despite less access to healthcare - Ministry of Health

Three hundred fewer people died during the Covid-19 lockdown compared to recent years, even as thousands of patient appointments were cancelled and GPs closed their doors to all but the most urgent cases. The Ministry of Health has published a report examining the impact of Covid-19 on hospital and general practice activity, which was reduced to all but the most essential services during lockdown to contain the virus, and how any changes effected patient health. As expected it showed a drastic reduction in people in hospital, with 40,000 fewer people discharged from hospital in April alone, the peak of the lockdown. Planned care in hospitals halved in April and the data shows this reduction, as well as a reduction in emergency care, disproportionately effected Māori and Pasific people.