In 2019, 15,756 people died in the Canary Islands from causes such as tumors, diseases of the circulatory system or the respiratory system, which continue to be the main factors of death. A year later, COVID broke into the world and skyrocketed death rates. In the Canary Islands, mortality grew 4.6%, reaching 16,486 people. In Spain alone, statistics show that almost 75,000 people died from the coronavirus, of which 494 died in the Canary Islands, either from COVID or suspected of COVID. As expected, the capital islands concentrate the highest number of deaths, but they do not do so in a balanced way. And it is that Tenerife, according to the data analyzed by the Canary Institute of Statistics (Istac), registered 63% of these deaths, specifically 315 of those almost 500 in the entire Archipelago. In Gran Canaria, the data show that the number of deaths attributable to COVID was 146.
The rest of the Islands are far from these figures. Thus, the next highest number of deaths from coronavirus was Lanzarote with 14. Fuerteventura (5), La Palma (9), La Gomera (3), and El Hierro (2) complete the official data collected by the Istac according to of the death certificates presented and in which the cause of death is included.
The figures differentiate between deaths from COVID and suspected of having been the cause of death. Thus, within the first figure, 396 people are registered, while in the second the figure is 98. The sum of both gives those 494 deaths from COVID in the Archipelago.
Municipalities
As for the municipalities that registered the highest number of deaths, in correlation with the total data of the Islands, those of Tenerife are the ones that collect the highest figures. The list is headed by Santa Cruz de Tenerife with 88 deaths, followed by La Laguna with 61, with the Chicharrera capital leading the number of deaths from COVID in the entire Canary Islands. Puerto de la Cruz (20), Arona (17), Icod de los Vinos (15), La Orotava and Los Realejos (14), and Güímar (12), are the municipalities that exceed two figures in the number of deaths by COVID in Tenerife.
The data from Tenerife shows that the municipalities that were most affected by COVID mortality are concentrated in the north of the island, where, it cannot be forgotten, the oldest population is located. There the mortality registered was 90 people. In the south the figure was 64, while in the metropolitan area, with the municipalities of Santa Cruz, La Laguna, El Rosario and Tegueste, the number of deaths was 161.
If the data are compared with Gran Canaria, it is verified, as was pointed out during the pandemic as a possible explanation that there were more COVID cases in Tenerife than in the neighboring island, the existing dispersion in the number of deaths. In Gran Canaria, only Las Palmas, with 79 deaths from coronavirus, and Telde with 14, were the only two municipalities with two-digit records.
Considering the age of the deceased, the vast majority, 68% of the 494 deaths registered in the Canary Islands by COVID, were over 75 years old. In Tenerife that percentage rises to 70%. Regarding sex, more men died from coronavirus, with 58% of all deaths.
Remains of causes of death
As reported by the Istac, in 2020 16,486 residents of the Canary Islands died, the most common basic causes of death in large groups being tumors (4,615, 28% of the total), diseases of the circulatory system (27.4%), diseases respiratory system (11.7%), nervous system (4.6%), infectious and parasitic (4.5%) and external morbidity and mortality (4.4%).
In men (8,765 deaths) the first causes in large groups were tumors (2,736, 31.2% of deaths of the same sex), diseases of the circulatory system (26.1%), of the respiratory system (11.9% ), external causes of morbidity and mortality (5.9%), digestive system (5.3%) and infectious and parasitic (includes COVID-19) (4.7%).
In women (7,721 deaths) the most common were diseases of the circulatory system (2,226, 28.8%), tumors (24.3%), respiratory system (11.5%), nervous system (5.7 %), mental and behavioral disorders (5.4%), digestive system (5%), genitourinary system (4.5%) and infectious and parasitic (includes COVID-19) (4.2%).
The proportion of deaths due to tumors was higher in the islands of Fuerteventura (36.1%), Lanzarote (33.9%), La Gomera (28.1%) and Gran Canaria (27.8%). Regarding deaths from diseases of the circulatory system, the highest proportions occurred in El Hierro (32.0%), Lanzarote (29.5%), Gran Canaria (29.3%) and La Palma (29.3% ).
On the other hand, within the external causes of morbidity and mortality, there were 45 registered deaths in the Canary Islands due to drowning and submersion in swimming pools and natural waters. This represents 10 more deaths than the previous year. By islands, Lanzarote was the one in which the most people died from this cause, with 14, followed by Tenerife with 11 and Gran Canaria with 10.
