How many people have actually died from COVID in El Salvador?

In the middle of July, approximately 200 deaths were recorded per day, a 60% increase over the average of the previous 5 yearsInformation obtained from the National Registry of Natural Persons. However, at the beginning of the quarantine there was a decrease in registrations. It may be due to an under-registration because the mayoral offices were closed and the people in that period simply did not register the death (the ultimate reason for this drop in the RNPN data should be explored). During the quarantine, some processes were made more flexible and allowed not to record deaths in the usual time.

Until mid-September there were approximately 2,000 suspected deaths from COVID, which due to lack of evidence were not part of the official figures. This is the equivalent of underreporting 70% of the deceased cases. It is also observed that the peak of suspicious and official deaths do not coincide, which could lead to a delay in the tracking of COVID.

More deaths from cardiovascular problems, pneumonia and diabetes were reported. Pneumonia-related deaths had a more pronounced growth, the RNPN registering approximately 5 times more cases than normal at the peak of the pandemic. In the case of cancer deaths, approximately 2 times more cases than normal were reported at the peak of the pandemic. The data do not present an increase in cancer cases. These data were extracted from the causes reported by doctors and the causes are not exclusive.

During the quarantine, wrongful homicides, which are mostly caused by car accidents, decreased. In the entire month of May, 2 people were saved daily compared to the average of the last 5 years. For the month of July, an average of one less person died compared to the daily average of recent years.