Retrospective study of non-natural manners of death in Ontario: Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and related public health measures.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on non-natural manners of death in Ontario is not known. Understanding the indirect consequences of the pandemic and related public health measures (i.e. lockdown) fills a vital need to inform best practice in public health and guide policy decisions.

Methods

The Office of the Chief Coroner and the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service (OCC-OFPS) investigate sudden and unexpected deaths in the province of Ontario. The number of homicides, suicides, and accidental deaths (non-natural deaths=77,655) were extracted from the centralized Coroner's Information System database (total deaths=197,966), across four provincially defined stages of lockdown related to the COVID-19 pandemic (March 17 to December 31, 2020), and crude rates (per

SUBMITTER: Dmetrichuk JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8671724 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature