The Covid-19 pandemic caused a nearly 16% increase in the U.S.’s age-adjusted death rate in 2020, claiming the third-place spot for leading causes of death, according to a report from the CDC.
Of the approximately 3,358,814 deaths that occurred in the U.S. last year, SARS-CoV-2 accounted for approximately 375,000, with only heart disease and cancer claiming a higher mortality rates, Farida B. Ahmad, MPH, of the National Center for Health Statistics at the CDC, and colleagues wrote in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report — and, they added, Covid-19 replaced suicide as one of 2020’s top 10 leading causes of death.
“From 2019 to 2020, the estimated age-adjusted death rate increased by 15.9%, from 715.2 to 828.7 deaths per 100,000 population,” they found. “Covid-19 was reported as the underlying cause of death or a contributing cause of death for an estimated 377,883 (11.3%) of those deaths (91.5 deaths per 100,000). The highest age-adjusted death rates by age, race/ethnicity, and sex occurred among adults aged ≥85 years, non-Hispanic Black or African American (Black) and non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN) persons, and males. Covid-19 death rates were highest among adults aged ≥85 years, AI/AN and Hispanic persons, and males.”
Ahmad and colleagues noted that these death estimates should be of use in guiding public health policies and interventions aimed at “reducing numbers of deaths that are directly or indirectly associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and among persons most affected, including those who are older, male, or from disproportionately affected racial/ethnic minority groups.”
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, presented these findings at a White House Covid-19 press briefing on Wednesday and noted that unfortunately, thus far, these same racial/ethnic trends in Covid mortality have carried into 2021. “The data should serve, again, as a catalyst for each of us to continue to do our part to drive down cases and reduce the spread of Covid-19 and get people vaccinated as quickly as possible,” she said.
Walensky noted that, while U.S. Covid-19 vaccinations have been continuing at a solid pace across the country, the seven-day averages for new cases and Covid-19 hospitalizations have been on the rise, largely driven by virus variants and the early lifting of Covid-19 restrictions in some areas.
“As we see increases in cases, we can’t afford to let our guard down,” she said. “We are so close — so very close to getting back to the everyday activities we all miss so much, but we’re not quite there yet… I know this is not easy and so many of us are frustrated with the disruption this pandemic has had on our everyday lives, but we can do this as a nation working together. There is reason to be hopeful because we now know so much more about this virus — how to stop its spread; and we now have three historic, safe, and effective vaccines that we didn’t have just four months ago; and we are distributing billions of dollars into communities disproportionately affected to help mount the most aggressive, equitable vaccination campaign of modern times.”
John McKenna, Associate Editor, BreakingMED™
Cat ID: 190
Topic ID: 79,190,730,933,190,926,192,927,151,928,925,934
