Ireland Experienced COVID Deaths in August

Tracy Davenport

Health

8th October 2020

Ireland Experienced COVID Deaths in August

At least 14 people died of complications from the disease (Getty Images).

The Claim

No one died of COVID-19 in Ireland in August 2020.

News posted on

Emerging story

On September 3, 2020, a social media user claimed that Ireland had zero deaths from COVID-19 in the month of August compared to many more deaths from other causes including cancer, alcohol, and suicide. The original post was shared or liked more than 2500 times.

Misbar’s Analysis

Misbar's investigation found that the post circulating on social media is false. Ireland’s COVID-19 death rate was not zero in August. Rather, according to the World Health Organization, Ireland reported 14 deaths in the month of August 2020 due to COVID-19.

This following graph shows the present acute hospitalization situation in Ireland.

The social media posts also refer to Irish deaths from cancer, alcohol, and suicide. According to the Irish Cancer Society, one out of four deaths in Ireland is caused by cancer. It is estimated that over 9,000 deaths every year are from cancer in Ireland, which would break down to approximately 760 deaths a month.

Alcohol is responsible for 88 deaths every month in Ireland according to Alcohol Ireland. In 1960 it was estimated that Irelanders consumed 4.9 liters of pure alcohol per adult. Consumption was estimated at 11 liters per person in 2018.

In 2016, there were 399 suicides in Ireland according to the National Suicide Research Foundation. This breaks down to approximately 33 deaths per month due to suicide.

While some of the recent data is not yet fully available for death from other causes in August 2020, death from other major causes has surpassed COVID-19 on a typical monthly basis. However, deaths from COVID-19 in August were not equal to zero as the post claims.