16,000 dead in a week: the warning Europe can no longer ignore

A severe heatwave in Europe caused about 16,000 excess deaths in one week. In Belgium, serious failures were exposed: elderly people died in homes without air conditioning, emergency rooms operated without cooling, and emergency lines collapsed under the load. In Wallonia, the death rate soared 77% above expectations, and on June 28, the daily death toll was higher than the peak of COVID-19 in 2020.

A severe heatwave in Europe caused about 16,000 excess deaths within one week, according to the article. In Belgium, serious failures in health and emergency infrastructure were exposed: elderly people died in sweltering homes without air conditioning, emergency rooms operated without cooling, and emergency lines struggled to cope with the load. In the Wallonia region in the south of the country, the death rate soared 77% above expectations between mid-June and early July. On June 28, at the peak of the heatwave, Wallonia recorded more deaths than on the deadliest day of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The strain on hospitals was unprecedented: at Montlegia Hospital in Liège, patients in milder condition were temporarily placed in corridors to allow the dying to end their lives in privacy. According to the data, 85% of the more than 900 excess deaths in Wallonia were among people aged 65 and over. Health professionals, quoted in The New York Times, explained that low-income elderly people living alone were at the highest risk. Homes in Belgium were historically built to retain heat rather than release it, and in summer days they became death traps for older residents who lacked adequate cooling. The article points to governmental complacency and a trap for vulnerable populations.