The Covid-19 pandemic has led to more than 299,000 more deaths in the U.S. than would be expected without the coronavirus outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported on Tuesday.
About two-thirds of those “excess” deaths were from Covid itself, with the rest from other, in some way related, causes. And the numbers — both hard data and projected estimates — continue to rise.
“The data cover the period Feb. 1 to Sept. 16, meaning that excess deaths have almost certainly reached 300,000,” reports the Washington Post, quoting Steven Woolf of Virginia Commonwealth University, who has analyzed excess mortality. Woolf predicts that the total is likely to reach 400,000 by the end of the year.
One surprise in the CDC report is that the virus has struck young adults (age 25-44) exceptionally hard, with an excess death rate up 26.5% from previous years. Although the actual number of cases among younger adults was relatively small, the increase was the largest for any age group.
Still, the Post says, “the virus continues to prey mainly on older people [up more than 24%] and, disproportionately, African Americans and Hispanics.” Hispanics suffered a startling 53.6% jump.
Native Americans and Asians also show higher infection numbers, on average, than whites.
“Overall, the CDC found “that excess deaths have occurred every week since March, 2020,” peaking in mid-April and again in early August, the Post says. The nation is currently experiencing another sharp increase in infections, centered in the Upper Midwest and Great Plains.
“Most likely, the excess deaths account for some otherwise untallied Covid-19 deaths — those who may have died without being tested or who died at home and whose deaths were not counted as caused by the coronavirus,” reports Stat News.
