More than 400 people died in last week’s heatwave than in the week before, indicating that most were affected by the high temperatures, national statistics agency CBS said on Friday.

In total, an estimated 3,100 people died in the week to August 16, when around 2,600 deaths would have been expected.

The higher death rate came after 13 weeks of relatively few coronavirus-related deaths, and in 75% of the cases, the people who died were over the age of 80, the CBS said. This is in line with the number of deaths during last year’s heatwave.

‘Doctors also had to deal with a relatively large number of people who had complaints related to the heat,’ researcher Maarten Bloem told NOS radio. ‘This includes sunstroke and dehydration.’

The official death toll from coronavirus in the week to August 18 is was 16, according to figures from national health institute RIVM.

The heatwave lasted for 13 days, with the temperature topping 30 Celsius on nine.