Australia’s COVID death toll in 2022 more than doubled that of previous two years

Due to the inaccuracy of reported case numbers, death figures are ‘the most robust indicator of how we’re tracking’, one expert said. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

The number of deaths from Covid-19 in Australia this year to date has reached more than double the deaths from 2020 and 2021 combined.

According to federal health department data as of 18 April, 6,786 people have died of Covid-19 in Australia since the beginning of the pandemic. Of these deaths, 4,547 occurred in 2022 – more than double the 2,239 deaths recorded over the first two years of the pandemic.