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As of 31 January 2021, 63.9 million cases and 1.4 million deaths had been reported in Europe and North America, which accounted for 62.5% and 62.4% of the global total, respectively. Comparing the level of mortality across countries has proven difficult because of inherent limitations in the most commonly cited measures (e.g., case-fatality rates). We collected the cumulative number of confirmed deaths from COVID-19 by age in 2020 from the L'Institut National d'études Démographiques (INED) database and Statistics Canada for 15 European and North American countries. We calculated age-specific death rates and age-standardized death rates (ASDR) for each country over a 1-year period from 6 February 2020 (date of first COVID-19 death in Europe and North America) to 5 February 2021 using established demographic methods. We estimated that COVID-19 was the second leading cause of death behind cancer in England and Wales and France and the third leading cause of death behind cancer and heart disease in nine countries including the US. Countries with higher all-cause mortality prior to the COVID-19 experienced higher COVID-19 mortality than countries with lower all-cause mortality prior to the pandemic. The COVID-19 ASDR varied substantially within country (e.g., a 5-fold difference among the highest and lowest mortality states in Germany). Consistently strong public health measures may have lessened the level of mortality for some European and North American countries. In contrast, many of the largest countries and economies in these regions may continue to experience a high mortality level because of poor implementation and adherence to such measures.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41118-021-00115-9.

In this paper, we measure the effect of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic wave at the national and subnational levels in selected Latin American countries that were most affected: Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru. We used publicly available monthly mortality data to measure the impacts of the pandemic using excess mortality for each country and its regions. We compare the mortality, at national and regional levels, in 2020 to the mortality levels of recent trends and provide estimates of the impact of mortality on life expectancy at birth. Our findings indicate that from April 2020 on, mortality exceeded its usual monthly levels in multiple areas of each country. In Mexico and Peru, excess mortality was spreading through many areas by the end of the second half of 2020. To a lesser extent, we observed a similar pattern in Brazil, Chile, and Ecuador. We also found that as the pandemic progressed, excess mortality became more visible in areas with poorer socioeconomic and sanitary conditions. This excess mortality has reduced life expectancy across these countries by 2-10 years. Despite the lack of reliable information on COVID-19 mortality, excess mortality is a useful indicator for measuring the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, especially in the context of Latin American countries, where there is still a lack of good information on causes of death in their vital registration systems.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41118-021-00139-1.

The policies for containing the spread of the SARS-CoV2 virus include a number of measures aimed at reducing physical contacts. In this paper, we explore the potential impact of such containment measures on social relations of both young adults and the elderly in Italy. We propose two ego-centered network definitions accounting for physical distance in light of the COVID-19 containment measures: the easy-to-reach network, that represents an accessible source of support that can be activate in case of new lockdown; the accustomed-to-reach network, which includes proximity and habit to meet in person. The approach used for constructing personal (ego-centered) networks on data from the most recent release of Families and Social Subject survey allows us to bring to the foreground people exposed to relational vulnerability. The analysis of the most vulnerable individuals by age, gender, and place of residence reveals that living alone is often associated with a condition of relational vulnerability for both the elderly and for young adults.

Homeless people are one of the most vulnerable and marginalized groups in developed countries, and their homelessness situation often persists over the long term. However, so far, no studies have explained the specific role played by residence registration as it relates to deprivation amongst the homeless population and its contribution to improving the lives of homeless people. This paper investigates the paths homeless people in Milan use to access residence registration, via a case study in the city of Milan. Home to Italy's largest homeless population, the city of Milan has implemented the innovative ResidenzaMi project to improve access to residence registration for homeless people. The study considers official statistics and individual interviews with service providers involved in the registration process. It further investigates the main factors impeding the registration process and outlines the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from our study indicate that a residence certificate plays a critical role in helping homeless people exercise their rights and access the services they need to escape homelessness. Our findings suggest the importance of a holistic, multidimensional approach to ensure access to residence registration for homeless persons.

Regional contraceptive use differentials are pronounced in Ghana, with the lowest levels occurring in the Northern Region. Community-based health services, intended to promote maternal and child health and family planning use, may have failed to address this problem. This paper presents an analysis of qualitative data on community perspectives on family planning "readiness," "willingness," and "ability" compiled in the course of 20 focus group discussions with residents (mothers and fathers of children under five, young boys and girls, and community elders) of two communities each in two Northern Region districts that were either equipped with or lacking direct access to community health services. The study districts are localities where contraceptive use is uncommon and fertility is exceptionally high. Results suggest that direct access to community services has had no impact on contraceptive attitudes or practice. Widespread method knowledge is often offset by side-effect misperceptions. Social constraints are prominent owing to opposition from men. Findings attest to the need to improve the provision of contraceptive information and expand method choice options. Because societal acceptance and access in this patriarchal setting is critical to use, frontline worker deployment should prioritize strategies for outreach to men and community groups with prominent attention to social mobilization themes and strategies that support family planning.

Across EU countries, all available evidence suggests that the number of deaths linked to COVID-19 among those living in nursing homes has been extremely high. However, it is largely unknown to what extent income and education affect the probability of being a nursing home resident. If the probability of residing in a nursing home is stratified by socio-economic status, under the current COVID-19 pandemic socio-economic inequality in the probability of living in a nursing home could contribute to enlarge socio-economic inequalities in the risk of mortality with COVID-19. In this article, we investigate whether there are income and educational differences in the likelihood of being a resident in a nursing home across 12 European countries. We use SHARE data (waves 5-7) and compute logistic regression models for rare events. We find that low-educated individuals and those having household income below the national median are more likely to live in a nursing home. This general pattern holds across all the European countries considered. However, there is considerable uncertainty in our estimates due to a small sample size, and firm conclusions on how the effect of socio-economic characteristics varies across countries cannot be drawn. Still, there is some indication that educational and income differences are the largest in the Scandinavian countries (Denmark and Sweden) and the Netherlands, while the smallest ones are found in Italy, with the remaining countries laying in between.

The COVID-19 outbreak has called for renewed attention to the need for sound statistical analyses to monitor mortality patterns and trends over time. Excess mortality has been suggested as the most appropriate indicator to measure the overall burden of the pandemic in terms of mortality. As such, excess mortality has received considerable interest since the outbreak of COVID-19 began. Previous approaches to estimate excess mortality are somewhat limited, as they do not include sufficiently long-term trends, correlations among different demographic and geographic groups, or autocorrelations in the mortality time series. This might lead to biased estimates of excess mortality, as random mortality fluctuations may be misinterpreted as excess mortality. We propose a novel approach that overcomes the named limitations and draws a more realistic picture of excess mortality. Our approach is based on an established forecasting model that is used in demography, namely, the Lee-Carter model. We illustrate our approach by using the weekly age- and sex-specific mortality data for 19 countries and the current COVID-19 pandemic as a case study. Our findings show evidence of considerable excess mortality during 2020 in Europe, which affects different countries, age, and sex groups heterogeneously. Our proposed model can be applied to future pandemics as well as to monitor excess mortality from specific causes of death.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of specific population sections, with regards to economic and work conditions, mental and physical well-being, and context-based factors, emphasizing the need for timely policy measures aimed at counteracting the Italian economic framework's fragility-which poorly adapts to unexpected circumstances. Identifying the most vulnerable groups is, therefore, essential with a view to carrying out targeted measures. Concerning University, the economic downturn caused by COVID-19 could likely result in a decrease in enrollments to both the first and further years of study, with significant consequences on the future of students and the system as a whole. The class of students is of great interest, as it is made up of individuals differing from each other in many ways. Our investigation is aimed at observing anxiety levels filtering the perception of one's anxiety state in a highly stressful time such as the pandemic from the usual anxiety levels. This evaluation allows us to evaluate the similarity of individual behaviors during the lockdown period with those from the previous period.

Civil registration of vital events such as deaths and births is a key part of the process of securing rights and benefits for individuals worldwide. It also enables the production of vital statistics for local planning of social services. In many low- and lower-middle-income countries, however, civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems do not adequately register significant numbers of births and, especially, deaths. In this study, we aim to estimate the completeness of adult death registration (for age 15 and older) in the Matlab health and demographic surveillance system (HDSS) area in Bangladesh and to identify reasons for (not) registering deaths in the national CRVS system. We conducted a sample survey of 2538 households and recorded 571 adult deaths that had occurred in the 3 years preceding the survey. Only 17% of these deaths were registered in the national CRVS system, with large gender differences in registration rates (male = 26% vs. female = 5%). Respondents who reported that a recent death in the household was registered indicated that the primary reasons for registration were to secure an inheritance and to access social services. The main reasons cited for not registering a death were lack of knowledge about CRVS and not perceiving the benefits of death registration. Information campaigns to raise awareness of death registration, as well as stronger incentives to register deaths, may be needed to improve the completeness of death registration in Bangladesh.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41118-021-00125-7.