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Exploring the Relationship between Care Homes and Excess Deaths in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Alacevich, Caterina

    (Pompeu Fabra University)

  • Cavalli, Nicolò

    (Nuffield College, Oxford)

  • Giuntella, Osea

    (University of Pittsburgh)

  • Lagravinese, Raffaele

    (University of Bari)

  • Moscone, Francesco

    (Brunel University)

  • Nicodemo, Catia

    (University of Oxford)

Abstract

We explore the relationship between the spatial distributions of excess deaths and care home facilities during the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. Using registry-based mortality data (January 1st- March 31st, 2015-2020) for Lombardy, one of the areas hit most severely, we estimate that municipalities with care homes present significantly higher excess death rates among the elderly (+41%). We find that this effect is not driven by the size of care homes and of the vulnerable population that they host. Rather, our results suggest that the excess deaths did not occur only within care homes and these facilities acted as one of the possible catalysts in the diffusion of COVID-19 in the whole elderly population of their surrounding territory.

Suggested Citation

  • Alacevich, Caterina & Cavalli, Nicolò & Giuntella, Osea & Lagravinese, Raffaele & Moscone, Francesco & Nicodemo, Catia, 2020. "Exploring the Relationship between Care Homes and Excess Deaths in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Italy," IZA Discussion Papers 13492, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13492
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Vandoros, Sotiris, 2020. "Excess mortality during the Covid-19 pandemic: Early evidence from England and Wales," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    2. Jennifer Beam Dowd & Liliana Andriano & David M. Brazel & Valentina Rotondi & Per Block & Xuejie Ding & Yan Liu & Melinda C. Mills, 2020. "Demographic science aids in understanding the spread and fatality rates of COVID-19," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 117(18), pages 9696-9698, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Brandily, Paul & Brébion, Clément & Briole, Simon & Khoury, Laura, 2020. "A Poorly Understood Disease? The Unequal Distribution of Excess Mortality Due to COVID-19 Across French Municipalities," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 15/2020, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    2. Borsati, Mattia & Nocera, Silvio & Percoco, Marco, 2022. "Questioning the spatial association between the initial spread of COVID-19 and transit usage in Italy," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    3. Armillei, Francesco & Filippucci, Francesco & Fletcher, Thomas, 2021. "Did Covid-19 hit harder in peripheral areas? The case of Italian municipalities," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    excess mortality; COVID-19; care homes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General

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