Where are the workers? Some scientists think many died from COVID-19

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Millions of older working people died due to COVID-19 without their deaths being counted. Much more than 20 millions of people have died during a course of COVID-19.

“The baby boomers didn’t just quit work, COVID-19 slaughtered much of the active part of the elderly population. It also took its toll on the younger workers who went to work scoffing at infection mitigation, and then off to a large demonstration in a city like Toronto or Ottawa, angry that they were being told to wear a mask,” says Dr. Kathy Poon, interning with the Civil Society Partners against COVID-19 tracking team in Singapore.

On 23 July 2022, 19,253,753 was total global deaths (CSPaC.net estimated actual) due to COVID-19. That estimate is an educated guess based on unreported public health units  including errors, and unreported likely-cause excess deaths such as people who never went to a hospital but had COVID-19 indications but never tested. Other estimates are as high as doubling that number.

The workers in the range of  50-64 years of age are 25x more likely to die during the course of COVID-19 disease.

See The Lancet estimate of excess mortality from COVID-19 (Download PDF) in 191 countries/territories and 252 subnational units of select countries, from 1 January 2 0 2 0, to 31 December 2 0 2 1.

Some people blame the baby boomers for the dearth of workers today. “Junk science,” says Dr. Fred Harris, team lead of the the Civil Society Partners against COVID-19 tracking team in Singapore.

“It’s the slowest-moving train on the planet. It was predictable 60 to 65 years ago, and we have done nothing about it,” said Armine Yalnizyan, an economist and Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers who spoke to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “We knew this transition was going to happen.”

WHO estimates that between 80,000 and 180,000 health and care workers could have died from COVID-19 in the period between January 2020 to May 2021, converging to a medium scenario of 115 500 deaths.

Compared to the reference group of 18-29 years of age, baby boomers are 25 times to 330 times more likely to die in the course of COVID-19 according to CDC.

  • 30-39 years of age: 4X more likely to die in the course of COVID-19.
  • 40-49years of age: 10X more likely to die in the course of COVID-19.
  • 50-64years of age: 25x more likely to die in the course of COVID-19.
  • 65-74 years of age: 60x more likely to die in the course of COVID-19.
  • 75-80 years of age: 140X more likely to die in the course of COVID-19.
  • 85+ years of age: 330X more likely to die in the course of COVID-19.

Rates of death from COVID-19 Among Seniors and middle aged

Rates of death from COVID-19 Among Seniors and middle aged. Data is from the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Art/Cropping/Enhancement: Rosa Yamamoto / Feminine-Perspective Magazine

13 Dec 2024 COVID-19 Data for The Entire World from CSPaC