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The number of people who died due to malpractice would have likely been much lower than normal during the first year or so of the pandemic because for at least some of that time hospitals were overwhelmed with covid patients and they stopped doing a lot of their normal procedures.

Even when doctors and hospitals weren't enforcing it, many people were putting off non-critical medical care because they didn't want to go into the hospital or doctor's office and risk getting exposed.

Fewer people being treated, and fewer elective procedures being performed means fewer chances for error.

One exception of course would be ER/ICU staff who were so stressed, overworked, and understaffed that I wouldn't doubt if the number of mistakes in those places increased to some extent.