Ottawa, Nov 27 (IANS): Canadians aged 85 and over account for more than half of the excess deaths reported amid the Covid-19 first wave between March and June this year, according to Statistics Canada.

In an update on Thursday, Statistics Canada said that the country saw an estimated 7,576 excess deaths between March and June this year as Covid-19 spread across the country, Xinhua news agency reported.

The figure refers to deaths that exceed the number that would normally be expected during any given period of time.

Of the 7,576 excess deaths, 52 perc ent were individuals aged 85 and older, 36 per cent were aged 65-84, and 12 per cent were younger than 65.

"This reflects the fact that deaths caused directly by Covid-19 disproportionately affected the elderly. Over the same period of time, 8,345 people died due to Covid-19 and 4,615 (55 per cent) of those individuals were aged 85 and older," Statistics Canada said.

From March until June, 4,515 females died due to Covid-19 compared to 3,830 males.

"The difference between the two sexes comes from deaths among people over the age of 85, where more women than men have died of the disease. In the younger age groups, more men than women have died of Covid-19," Statistics Canada said.

It added that measuring Canada's excess mortality provides an important benchmark for understanding the potential impacts of the resurgence of Covid-19 on certain communities.

While these excess deaths skyrocketed in the early months of the pandemic, Statistics Canada found that there was a brief dip in July, when these figures returned to a "normal, pre-pandemic range", which according to the agency falls around 21,000 deaths per month.

At the national level, no excess mortality was recorded in the country between July and the end of September.