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23 August 2021 • 5 hours earlier • 3 minutes read • 21 comments 
People register for COVID-19 vaccination at the Palais des congrès in Montreal. Photo by Allen McInnis /Mail media
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It has killed hundreds of London area residents since it struck 17 months ago, but COVID-19 lags far behind the area’s top killers, including cancer and heart disease, new numbers show.
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COVID-19 was ranked sixth among the leading causes of death in the Greater London area last year and jumped to third place in 2021, Statistics Canada data obtained from The London Free Press.
But the toll of COVID-19 in the greater London census – which includes St. Thomas, Strathroy, and parts of Middlesex and Elgin counties – pales in comparison to other fatal conditions, making up two percent of total deaths in the region last year.
The top two deaths in the region are cancer and heart disease, which together accounted for 1,930 deaths last year, about 43 percent of the total. Cancer and heart disease took the top two positions in 2019 and 2020 and so far in 2021.
This year, COVID-19 deaths have had a bigger impact in the area, accounting for about six percent of deaths by the end of June, the StatsCan data shows.
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Much of this can be traced back to the third wave, before vaccines were widely available. January was the deadliest month of the pandemic in London and Middlesex Counties, with 73 COVID-19 deaths reported by the Middlesex-London Health Unit. At least 49 of January’s COVID-19 deaths were related to long-term care homes.
“It underscores to me how serious this was, especially the significant impact it had on our elderly population.“Said assistant health officer Alex Summers on Friday.
“When we look back on the waves that hit nursing homes and retirement homes, it was really tragic.”
In both 2019 and 2020, accidental injuries were the third leading cause of death, cerebrovascular disease – including stroke and aneurysms – fourth, and chronic lower respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema, fifth.
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In 2020, when COVID-19 was ranked sixth among the leading causes of death in the Greater London area, diabetes ranked seventh, flu and pneumonia ranked eighth, and liver disease ranked ninth. Statistics Canada reported 4,400 deaths in the Greater London area last year and 1,545 in the first six months of 2021.
The Canadian Bureau of Statistics estimates that COVID-19 will reduce life expectancy by 0.41 years in 2020.
King’s University College demographer and sociologist Don Kerr says the London death dates are in line with national statistics, adding that the COVID-19 toll could have been much worse in Canada.
“If we hadn’t contained the virus with masks and social distancing, the death toll would have risen quite dramatically,” he said.
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“In the US, COVID ranked third overall in 2020 and was responsible for over 10 percent of all American deaths.”
Statistics Canada data comes from details found on people’s medical death certificates and is slightly different from the COVID-19 death rates from the Middlesex-London Health Unit and Southwestern Public Health, the health unit in Elgin and Oxford counties.
The federal agency reports 200 COVID-19 deaths in the Greater London Census over the course of the pandemic, compared to 232 reported by the Middlesex-London Health Unit.
On Friday, the London Area Health Unit urged the public to be vigilant about public health actions as the number of COVID-19 cases rises, mostly among unvaccinated and partially vaccinated young adults.
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With the fourth wave coming our way and causing concern, Summers said the COVID-19 vaccination campaign could make this surge less fatal than the others.
“The number of expected deaths is proportional to the number of cases we see and the population affected by those cases. I am encouraged that the vaccination coverage is so high in our oldest population. That will make a big difference, ”he said, adding that more than 88 percent of adults 70 and over in the Greater London area are fully vaccinated.
“We saw the profound effects of the vaccine as early as the third wave, when we had so much fewer deaths compared to the second wave.”
Top causes of death in Greater London in 2020
Percentage of total deaths
- Cancer – 26.25%
- Heart disease – 17.6%
- Accidental injuries – 5.6%
- Cerebrovascular diseases – 4.5%
- Chronic diseases of the lower respiratory tract – 4%
- COVID-19 – 2.3%
- Diabetes – 2.1%
- Flu and pneumonia – 1.8%
- Liver disease and cirrhosis – 1.5%
- Alzheimer’s disease – 1.3%
Other causes combined – 32%
Source: Statistics Canada
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