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The evidence for a causal relationship between long-term ozone exposure and cardiovascular mortality is inconclusive, and most published data are from high-income countries. We aimed to investigate the association between long-term exposure to ozone and cardiovascular mortality in China, the most populous middle-income country.

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a leading cause of mortality worldwide, but disease burden of CAP is not clear so far. We aim to explore the spatial and temporal trends of mortality and years of life lost (YLL) due to CAP during 2013–2021 in mainland China, especially the mortality changes before and during COVID-19 pandemic due to COVID-19 related non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs).

The disability weight (DW) quantifies the severity of health states from disease sequela and is a pivotal parameter for disease burden calculation. We conducted a national and subnational DW measurement in China.

ObjectiveTo assess excess all cause and cause specific mortality during the three months (1 January to 31 March 2020) of the coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) outbreak in Wuhan city and other parts of China.DesignNationwide mortality registries.Setting605 urban districts and rural counties in China’s nationally representative Disease Surveillance Point (DSP) system.ParticipantsMore than 300 million people of all ages.Main outcome measuresObserved overall and weekly mortality rates from all cause and cause specific diseases for three months (1 January to 31 March 2020) of the covid-19 outbreak compared with the predicted (or mean rates for 2015-19) in different areas to yield rate ratio.ResultsThe DSP system recorded 580 819 deaths from January to March 2020. In Wuhan DSP districts (n=3), the observed total mortality rate was 56% (rate ratio 1.56, 95% confidence interval 1.33 to 1.87) higher than the predicted rate (1147 v735 per 100 000), chiefly as a result of an eightfold increase in deaths from pneumonia (n=1682; 275 v33 per 100 000; 8.32, 5.19 to 17.02), mainly covid-19 related, but a more modest increase in deaths from certain other diseases, including cardiovascular disease (n=2347; 408 v316 per 100 000; 1.29, 1.05 to 1.65) and diabetes (n=262; 46 v25 per 100 000; 1.83, 1.08 to 4.37). In Wuhan city (n=13 districts), 5954 additional (4573 pneumonia) deaths occurred in 2020 compared with 2019, with excess risks greater in central than in suburban districts (50% v15%). In other parts of Hubei province (n=19 DSP areas), the observed mortality rates from pneumonia and chronic respiratory diseases were non-significantly 28% and 23% lower than the predicted rates, despite excess deaths from covid-19 related pneumonia. Outside Hubei (n=583 DSP areas), the observed total mortality rate was non-significantly lower than the predicted rate (675 v715 per 100 000), with significantly lower death rates from pneumonia (0.53, 0.46 to 0.63), chronic respiratory diseases (0.82, 0.71 to 0.96), and road traffic incidents (0.77, 0.68 to 0.88).ConclusionsExcept in Wuhan, no increase in overall mortality was found during the three months of the covid-19 outbreak in other parts of China. The lower death rates from certain non-covid-19 related diseases might be attributable to the associated behaviour changes during lockdown.