Background: Europe overall suffered greatly in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic but the impact of different countries varied. Italy was in the forefront, but there too there were differences, with the Lombardy region the epicentre of the pandemic. Methods: We report Crude Mortality Rates (CMRs) from deaths reported as due to COVID-19 and, in five countries where age-specific data are available, Standardized Mortality Rates (SMRs) in the European Union and United Kingdom. Results: As of 30th August 2020, Belgium was the country with the highest cumulative CMR (86.3/100,000), but the Lombardy region reached almost double this figure (167.6/100,000), far ahead of the corresponding figure for the rest of Italy at 37.0/100,000. SMRs could be calculated for five countries (Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Germany, and Netherlands). Among them, Sweden had the highest SMR (61.6/100,000). The corresponding figures for Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Germany were 50.2, 41.4, 15.9, and 10.1 per 100,000, respectively. Conclusion: It is clear that countries within Europe have performed very differently in their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the many limitations in the available data must be addressed before a definitive assessment of the reasons for these differences can be made.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Epidemics, Pandemics, death rates, standardized mortality rate, 【초록키워드】 Europe, pandemic, COVID-19 pandemic, Italy, Germany, response, death, Belgium, United Kingdom, Portugal, early stage, lombardy, Netherlands, available data, union, limitation, cumulative, European, country, FIVE, SMR, highest, performed, reported, Rate, calculated, suffered, reached, addressed, SMRs, 【제목키워드】 Europe, Wave, Rate,