During lockdown, more suicides recorded than COVID-19 deaths: California doctors say

4years ago

US news.

Doctors at a California hospital have revealed that they had dealt with more suicide cases than COVID-19 ones during the lockdown.

Staff at John Muir Medical Center said that over weeks, they have seen records of suicide attempts and deaths likely linked to mental health issues developed amid the pandemic.

“I think, originally, this shelter-in-place order was put in place to flatten the curve and to make sure hospitals have the resources to take care of COVID patients,” Dr. Mike deBoisblanc said. “We have the current resources to do that and our other community health is suffering. We’ve never seen numbers like this, in such a short period of time. We’ve seen a year’s worth of suicide attempts in the last four weeks.”