Monitoring the Covid-19 epidemics in Italy from mortality data

The mortality data can be used as an alternative source to monitor the status of Covid-19. We have studied a dataset including deaths up to the fourth week of April. There is a large excess, more pronounced at the beginning of the pandemic, showing a difference in age and gender compared to the Covid-19-confirmed cases. The study indicates that mortality information can be used to provide a less biased time profile of the pandemic.