Deaths due to COVID-19 among aged care residents

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Classification and interpretation of COVID-19 related deaths Summary of deaths due to and with COVID-19 Deaths due to COVID-19 by population group Deaths due to COVID-19 and care needs of residents

This section reports deaths among aged care residents following their latest COVID-19 diagnosis up to 31 December 2022. Only a resident’s latest COVID-19 diagnosis was included in the analysis, therefore, this section presents the “percentage of residents with a COVID-19 diagnosis who died due to COVID-19”, using the number of aged care residents with a COVID-19 diagnosis as the denominator. This is different to a case fatality rate, which uses the total number of COVID-19 diagnoses as the denominator. 

For data on the case fatality rate of COVID-19 in the residential aged care population see COVID-19 outbreaks in Australian residential aged care facilities. As of 10 October 2025, the case fatality rate in aged care residents had decreased from 33% in 2020 to 3.3% in 2022 and 1.5% in 2025 (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing 2025). 

For data on the case fatality rate of COVID-19 in the Australian population, see Hospitalisations and deaths following COVID-19, 2020–22: a linked data analysis. Declining case fatality rates have been observed during the Omicron period in Australia and over time in international studies, which is likely due to the protective effects of vaccine- and infection-induced immunity (AIHW 2022; Liu et al. 2023; VRDEST 2024; Xia et al. 2024).

Classification and interpretation of COVID-19 related deaths

In this report, COVID-19 related deaths are classified as follows:

Deaths due to COVID 19: refers to deaths with COVID-19 as an underlying cause of death, meaning COVID-19 initiated the sequence of events resulting in death. These deaths have an underlying cause of death recorded in the National Death Index as U07.1 COVID-19 virus identified; U07.2 COVID-19, virus not identified; or U10.9 Multisystem inflammatory syndrome associated with COVID-19.

Deaths with COVID 19: refers to deaths with COVID-19 as an associated cause of death, meaning COVID-19 contributed to the death but was not the underlying cause. These deaths have an associated cause of death recorded in the National Death Index as U07.1 COVID-19 virus identified; U07.2 COVID-19, virus not identified; or U09.9 Post COVID-19 condition, unspecified.

Interpreting COVID-19 related deaths in this report: Cause of death information was not available for deaths that occurred in 2023. The number of COVID-19 deaths reported here differ slightly from those reported by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (2023) because: the registration based data in the COVID-19 Register are more complete for the years of analysis (2020–2022) and are not directly comparable with data from disease surveillance systems which are designed to release information rapidly (ABS 2024); the methods for collecting mortality data on aged care residents were revised in late 2022 and early 2023 (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing 2022); the COVID-19 Register does not include information from all residential aged care facilities (such as the Multi-Purpose Services Program and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program); and Western Australia residents are not included in this analysis.

To aid the interpretation of findings, 95% confidence intervals are included. See Technical notes for more information.

Summary of deaths due to and with COVID-19

Nearly 4,800 aged care residents (or 5.2%) with a COVID-19 diagnosis had died due to COVID-19 by the end of 2022. Although most deaths (82%) occurred during the Omicron period, the percentage of residents with a COVID-19 diagnosis who died due to COVID-19 was 6 times lower in this period (4.4%) compared with the pre-Omicron period (26%) (Table S4.1).

These patterns reflect previous AIHW findings (AIHW 2025) and other studies which found lower rates of death associated with the Omicron strain despite higher numbers of cases (Muleme et al. 2023; Ward et al. 2022). 

In addition to those who died due to COVID-19, nearly 1,000 residents died with COVID-19 recorded as an associated cause by the end of 2022 (Table S4.2). Of these residents: 

  • among those with a dementia record, the most common underlying causes of death were dementia (52% of women, 42% of men) and circulatory system disease (20% of women, 17% of men)
  • among those with no dementia record, the most common underlying causes of death were circulatory system disease (40% of women, 35% of men) and neoplasms (17% of women, 27% of men).

More data on deaths with COVID-19 can be found in Supplementary table S4.2. The rest of this section will focus on deaths due to COVID-19.

The impact of COVID-19 vaccination and antiviral medications on deaths due to COVID-19 are explored in the next sections.

Deaths due to COVID-19 by population group

Figure 4.1 is an interactive chart where readers can explore differences in deaths due to COVID-19 among aged care residents with a COVID-19 diagnosis, by dementia status and for selected population groups: sex, age group and region of residence (state or territory, remoteness area and socioeconomic area).

Among aged care residents with a COVID-19 diagnosis:

  • A higher percentage of people with a dementia record died due to COVID-19 than people with no dementia record (28% and 23% in the pre-Omicron period, and 4.9% and 3.5% in the Omicron period, respectively) (Figure 4.1, ‘Total’).
  • A higher percentage of men with a dementia record died due to COVID-19 in the pre-Omicron (36%) and Omicron periods (6.7%) than women with a dementia record (23% and 3.9%, respectively) and people with no dementia record (23% and 3.5%, respectively). The percentage of people who died due to COVID-19 increased with age (Figure 4.1, ‘Age group’). Similar patterns by sex and age were observed for deaths due to COVID-19 among all Australians aged 60 and over (AIHW 2025).
  • In the pre-Omicron period, the percentage of people who died due to COVID-19 was higher in Victoria than in New South Wales for people with a dementia record (29% and 22%, respectively) and people with no dementia record (24% and 16%, respectively). 
  • In the Omicron period, the percentage of people who died due to COVID-19 ranged from 2.6% in Tasmania to 5.8% in South Australia for people with a dementia record and 2.5% in Tasmania to 4.4% in South Australia for people with no dementia record. Some of this variation may be due to differences in death certification policies (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing 2021).
  • In the pre-Omicron period, the percentage of people who died due to COVID-19 was lower in Regional and remote areas compared with Major cities. In the Omicron period, there was little variation between remoteness areas.
  • There was little variation between socioeconomic areas in the percentage of people who died due to COVID-19.  

Figure 4.1: Number and percentage of aged care residents with a COVID-19 diagnosis who died due to COVID-19, by COVID-19 period, dementia status and population group, 25 January 2020 to 31 December 2022

A series of bar charts show a higher number and percentage of residents with a dementia record died due to COVID-19 than residents with no dementia record, across all population groups.

A series of bar charts show a higher number and percentage of residents with a dementia record died due to COVID-19 than residents with no dementia record, across all population groups.

Notes:

  1. Deaths due to COVID-19 include those that occurred after a reported COVID-19 diagnosis, regardless of time period, or up to 21 days prior to the COVID-19 diagnosis date, due to potential delays in notifications.
  2. A resident may have had a COVID-19 diagnosis in both COVID-19 periods, so the sum of the periods will not equal the Total.
  3. Data were not available for Western Australia. Deaths in the pre-Omicron period are only shown for NSW and Victoria. Deaths for the ‘No dementia’ group in the ACT and the NT were suppressed due to data confidentiality rules for small counts. 
  4. Analysis by socioeconomic area was based on the 2021 Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage (IRSD) quintiles, where 1 is the most disadvantaged area and 5 is the least disadvantaged area. The socioeconomic area of a person’s residential aged care facility may not be the same as the socioeconomic area/s they previously lived in.
  5. Remoteness areas outside Major cities were aggregated due to data confidentiality rules for small counts.
  6. Abbreviations: ACT: Australian Capital Territory, NSW: New South Wales, NT: Northern Territory, QLD: Queensland, SA: South Australia, TAS: Tasmania, VIC: Victoria. 
  7. To aid the interpretation of findings, 95% confidence intervals are included.

For downloadable data tables, see Table S4.1 in Data tables (Hospitalisation and mortality among aged care residents with a COVID-19 diagnosis).

Deaths due to COVID-19 and care needs of residents

To explore the impact of care needs on deaths due to COVID-19, Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) care needs data were analysed (see ACFI data for more information). 

Across each of the ACFI domains of Activities of daily living, Cognition and behaviour and Complex health care, a higher percentage of residents with a COVID-19 diagnosis who had high care needs died due to COVID-19 than residents with medium or low/nil care needs (Figure 4.2). This pattern was more pronounced for the Activities of daily living and Complex health care domains than the Cognition and behaviour domain and was consistent for residents with and without a dementia record during the pre-Omicron and Omicron periods.

Figure 4.2: Number and percentage of aged care residents with a COVID-19 diagnosis who died due to COVID-19, by COVID-19 period, dementia status and level of care needs in the ACFI Activities of daily living, Cognition and behaviour and Complex health care domains

A series of bar charts show residents with high care needs had higher rates of deaths due to COVID-19 than residents with low/nil care needs.

A series of bar charts show residents with high care needs had higher rates of deaths due to COVID-19 than residents with low/nil care needs.

Notes:

  1. Deaths due to COVID-19 include those that occurred after a reported COVID-19 diagnosis, regardless of time period, or up to 21 days prior to the COVID-19 diagnosis date, due to potential delays in notifications.
  2. This analysis only includes residents who had an ACFI assessment in the linked data dated on or before the date of their latest COVID-19 diagnosis. ACFI levels were taken from the latest ACFI assessment and were aggregated where necessary to ensure data confidentiality rules for small counts.
  3. Abbreviations: ACFI: Aged Care Funding Instrument.
  4. To aid the interpretation of findings, 95% confidence intervals are included.

For downloadable data tables, see Table S4.3 in Data tables (Hospitalisation and mortality among aged care residents with a COVID-19 diagnosis).


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