Fewer Batswana are dying this year compared to the previous years, thanks to the outbreak of Coronavirus.
Botswana’s death rate has dropped to its lowest in three years since the outbreak of coronavirus earlier this year, bucking the global trend where mortality rates have spiked due to the pandemic.
Data from the Department of Civiland National Registration, Botswana Police Service, and Botswana Life suggests that Covid-19 restrictions and hygiene best practices have led to a significant reduction in recorded deaths in 2020 compared to the previous few years.
Botswana Life Insurance Limited recorded the lowest number of life insurance claims between January and August 2020 as compared to the same period in the past three years.
The company received a total of 46,570 claims this year and 68,666 the same period in 2019; a 32 percent reduction in claims.
Botswana Life registered 65,856 and 67,398 claims in 2018 and 2017 respectively.
The value of life insurance claims between January 1st and August 31st this year (2020) amounts to P449 million. Another 32 percent reduction from P657, million disbursed in 2019. A total value of P597, 521,425 and P530, 181,093 in claims were made in 2018 and 2017 respectively.
Botswana Life’s PR, Communications & Marketing Manager Tebogo Keepetsoe says the company has not been adversely affected by COVID-19 related claims. “Death claims have not increased due to COVID-19 and this is not surprising given the low nationwide statistics on COVID-19 deaths,” says Keepetsoe.
“We have in fact seen a positive impact of reduced death claims likely due to reduced accidental deaths claims because of less people movement during lockdowns and increased number of employees working from home. Increased public hygiene from COVID-19 protocols may have also led to reduced flu related deaths for the elderly during winter.”
Studies have indicated that globally seasonal flu kills an estimated 650,000 people. The wearing of masks and general hygiene inspired by COVID-19 protocols could mean tens of thousands of lives have been consequently spared worldwide.
While there are no available records of flu cases this year or any other year in Botswana, indications are that the nation experienced a significant reduction in influenza related cases this year compared to the previous years.
Botswana Life’s Communications & Marketing Manager has not ruled out delayed reporting of claims due to lockdowns as a possible contributing factor to the reduced numbers.
“We do not expect COVID-19 to significantly affect our claims experience adversely. However, lockdowns and improved public hygiene may in fact have a positive impact on death claims. We expect very few, localized and shorter lockdowns for the rest of the year and so we expect our claims experience to normalize,” Keepetsoe said.
Data from the Department of Civiland National Registration have also indicated a 10 percent reduction in Botswana’s mortality rate from the previous year. The department has issued 8,117 death certificates between January 1st and August 31st 2020 and 8,988 certificates in the same period last year (2019). There were 8,481 and 8,550 deaths recorded in 2018 and 2017 respectively.
The number of fatal road accidents has also gone done in 2020 as compared to the previous years, Botswana Police Service (BPS) has revealed.
The reduction in overall accidents has been attributed to reduced movements during the lockdown phase of the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fewer road traffic accidents and deaths were recorded, BPS has said.
“It is also noteworthy that there was a national ban on the sale of alcohol which helped reduce levels of consumption and exposure to drunken driving. Low volumes of traffic violations were also recorded, thus resulting in improvements on road safety in general,” Christopher Ndlovu, Deputy Director of Traffic Branch has told Sunday Standard.
Police statistics indicate there were 36 percent less accidents recorded between January 1st and August 31st 2020 than the same period in 2019 with 7,765 and 12,281 accidents recorded over the two years respectively.
Of the overall accidents recorded in 2020, at least 164 were fatal while 282 people lost their lives through car accidents in 2019. There were 42 percent more deaths as a result of motor vehicle accidents in 2019 than in 2020.
There were also more car accidents and fatalities in 2018 and 2017 than 2020. There were 295 and 288 fatalities as a result of car accidents in 2018 and 2017 respectively. While cases continue to grow Botswana remains one of the countries with the least COVID-19 deaths, with 16 casualties by the time of going to press. Botswana had recorded a total of 1,730 positive cases according to the last report by the COVID-19 TASK FORCE. Given the latest numbers Botswana’s Infection Fatality Ratio (IFR) stands at 0.9 percent, still the lowest in Africa.
The decline in Botswana’s death rate also debunks the whispered conspiracy theory that the country’s Covid-19 situation is worse than reported and there may be more COVID-19 fatalities out there.
