In fact, new data predicts the virus will be the third-biggest killer in Australia for the financial year that ended in July 2022.
The Actuaries Institute said deaths from COVID-19 – as distinct from people dying “with” the virus – reached 7100 for the first seven months of the year.
Only heart disease and dementia are expected to have taken a bigger toll on the Australian population.
COVID-19 will even outstrip deaths from cardiovascular diseases, such as strokes, and lung cancer.
The Institute tallied up the daily reports from state and territory health departments to find 9,550 deaths of people with COVID-19 from January to July.
This included a grim record of 1934 deaths in July alone.
The Institute estimated that of these, COVID-19 could be considered a cause of death in about 7,100 cases.
COVID-19 is also affecting “excess deaths” from other conditions, according to the Institute’s modelling, based on mortality data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
“Excess deaths” are deaths above what would be expected in a non-pandemic year, though COVID-19 is not expected to have directly contributed.
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Over the course of the pandemic, excess deaths from all causes have been two per cent higher than expected according to the Institute model – the figure reflecting the lower deaths from respiratory disease during the first two years.
“This is valuable data for our public health policy-makers and should be informing our flexible, safe and pragmatic public health response,” chief executive Elayne Grace said.