- More than 166,000 Americans are thought to have died as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but according to The New York Times, the death toll is actually much higher.
- CDC estimates show that there have been more than 200,000 “excessive deaths” in the U.S. since March 15, and that those excess deaths are reported where the virus is spreading.
- Only three states have not reported too many deaths this year: Alaska, Hawaii and West Virginia.
According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, 166,148 Americans died from COVID-19. That’s a surprisingly cool number, and we’re now well over a third of the way to the total number of American civilian and military deaths in World War II. Unfortunately, these reported figures only apply to the deaths that have been officially confirmed. The data suggest that the death rate from coronavirus is likely to be much higher.
After analyzing estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The New York Times found that more than 200,000 more people than normal in America have died since March. The number of “excessive deaths”, as the CDC refers to them, has risen in the north-east in April and May, and has been steadily increasing in the South and West since June, showing that the rise is directly linked to the pandemic.
“Counting dead takes time and many states are weeks or months behind in reporting. The CDC’s estimates are being adjusted based on how mortality data have been delayed in previous years, ‘the The time explains. Even with this adjustment, it is possible that a full rate can be underestimated as increased mortality causing states to slow down more than they have in the past than if states have changed their reporting systems. “
There was never any doubt that the official number underestimated the number of lives lost to the novel coronavirus, but the extent to which the dead are apparently substantiated is astonishing. From March 15 to August 1, there were 211,500 excess deaths in the United States. Not all of these people died after catching the virus, but that number is probably much closer to the actual toll of this deadly pandemic.
The most frightening aspect of the whole piece is seeing the peaks of the excessive deaths in the South and the West. We all remember the headlines from New York in the spring when hundreds of deaths were reported every day, but states like Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, and Mississippi report record numbers over the last two weeks because the spikes in ‘ t case counts in these regions earlier this summer result in death.
Confirmed cases of coronavirus have been on the decline since late July, but the virus has hit the US harder than any other country. According to the The time, 47 of the 50 U.S. states have reported higher than normal deaths since the pandemic hit our shores. Only Alaska, Hawaii and West Virginia are spared.
Jacob began to cover video games and technology in college as a hobby, but it soon became clear to him that this was what he wanted to do for a living. He currently resides in New York and writes for BGR. His previously published work can be found on TechHive, VentureBeat and Game Rant.
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