The experience of the committee for analyzing and closing suspected deaths from COVID-19 of the State Secretariat for Public Health of Rio Grande do Norte: The experience of the committee for analyzing and closing suspected deaths from COVID-19 of the State Secretariat for Public Health of Rio Grande do Norte

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has become a major public health problem and has resulted in a high and growing demand for suspected COVID-19 deaths that need to be investigated and closed. Objective: To describe the experience and results obtained by the team of the Committee for Analysis and Closure of COVID-19 Deaths of SESAP/RN. Method: This is an experience report that presents an exploratory and descriptive analysis with a qualitative approach of the activities of the Committee for Closure of Suspected Deaths by COVID-19 of SESAP-RN. The data were obtained from the collection of information consolidated in spreadsheets and reports, prepared by the technical team participating in the committee, for the period from July 2021 to June 2024. Results: In the three years of operation, 225 meetings were held, with analysis of 2,492 deaths and 24 reports prepared with information on the Committee's activities. Throughout the period, the deaths analyzed were classified as follows: confirmed COVID-19 (17%); Unspecified SARS (28%); SARS by another etiological agent (0.52%); SARS by other respiratory viruses (0.36%); no criteria for SARS (26%); Identification of ESAVI (2.6%); Arboviruses (4%); and referred for investigation (20.3%). Conclusion: The committee has been contributing to the qualification of the cause of death and improving information on deaths in the official information systems and COVID-19 bulletin, assisting in the surveillance and response to scenarios of health importance, providing transparency and visibility to the mortality rates due to COVID-19 in the state of Rio Grande do Norte.