- As many as 215,000 more people than usual died in the United States between January and July 2020, the Associated Press reported Friday.
- The death toll, from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suggests that COVID-19 kills more people than officially registered.
- People of color make up 40% of the U.S. population but 52% of “excessive deaths,” according to an analysis by the AP and The Marshall Project.
- More than 175,000 people in the U.S. are confirmed to have died of coronavirus, per Johns Hopkins University.
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The coronavirus has killed tens of thousands of Americans – 175,000 and counting – but the actual death toll could be as much as 35% higher than officially recognized, according to new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As the Associated Press reported Friday, the number of total deaths between January and July 2020 was as much as 215,000 deaths higher than normal, with people of color accounting for a majority of those killed. That compares with about 150,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in the same period.
That is not to say that any death outside the official count can be directly attributed to an undiagnosed case of COVID-19. In some cases, deaths may have occurred as a result of people with serious illnesses not seeking medical attention, fearing exposure to the new coronavirus, or being unable to receive treatment as a result of medical resources being spread by the pandemic.
What is clear, per an analysis by the AP and The Marshall Project, is that the death toll has affected some groups more than others. While people of color make up less than 40% of the U.S. population, they accounted for 52% of “too many deaths” between the beginning of the year and the end of July.
Blacks, Latinos and Asian Americans all saw their death toll increase by 30% by 2020, compared to the average over the last five years, the AP reported, with Native American deaths increasing by 20%.
Deaths among whites increased in the same period by 9%.
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