[ Sign up for our Health IQ newsletter for the latest coronavirus updates ]“The decline in life expectancy in 2020 is a consequence of the increase in the number of deaths linked to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the ISQ said in a statement.Quebec, which has been hard hit by the health crisis, has the highest death tally in the country attributable to the virus.The pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 10,400 Quebecers to date.
The province’s staggering death count represents roughly half of Canada’s fatalities tied to the pandemic.In fact, the agency reported in January that number of deaths in the province jumped 10 per cent in 2020 due to COVID-19.