Abstract
Countermeasures against pandemics including COVID-19 are required to be implemented based on the comparison between health damages caused by infection and socio-economic damages caused by preventive measures such as activity restrictions. In assessing the health hazards, it is necessary to consider not only the number of deaths but also other indicators from various perspectives. In this study, we aimed at capturing one aspect of the characteristics of COVID-19 by comparing it with other causes of death in terms of years of life lost (YLL). YLL can examine substantial difference among deaths caused by different risk factor. As a result, it was found that the YLL of COVID-19 per person was about the same as that of influenza and pneumonia, and about one third or half of that of traffic accidents and suicide. In addition, YLL of COVID-19 per month was 2.4 times higher than that of influenza, but same as that of traffic accidents, and about one-tenth of pneumonia and one-eighth of suicide. Finally, we discussed the importance of multifactor risk assessment and the need for comprehensive research on decision-making process based on the consideration of trade-offs among risks and the nature of uncertainty.
