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Excess deaths in the U.S. have reached more than a million since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to government mortality statistics.
Excess deaths are a metric that involves comparing all deaths recorded with those that are expected to occur in the same period.
US COVID-19 DEATH TOLL BREACHES 900K MARK
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the excess deaths reached 1,023,916 last week, citing Robert Anderson, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics mortality statistics branch chief.
"We’ve never seen anything like it," Anderson told the publication.
Registered nurse Bryan Hofilena attaches a "COVID Patient" sticker on a body bag of a patient who died of coronavirus at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
The agency's mortality records also note which deaths were from other ailments, like influenza, respiratory failure and arrest, heart disease, diabetes and sepsis.
In terms of pandemic deaths, the CDC reported 920,097 on Wednesday morning, though official reported deaths are believed to be lower than the actual amount.
Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center shows 925,435 deaths in the U.S.
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Anderson told the Post that the numbers may be slightly ambiguous, with deaths from heart attacks and hypertensive disease associated with undiagnosed COVID-19 cases. He also pointed out that although data from the past couple of months is incomplete, 74% of COVID-19 deaths occurred among people 65 and older.
Additional agency data for the U.S. shows the number of yearly deaths in 2020 at 3,383,729 deaths, with a death rate of 1,027 deaths per 100,000 population.
Heart disease and cancer were the leading causes of death then, with statistics showing just 350,831 COVID-19 deaths.
A September 2020 CDC report found that in 2018, 51.8% of U.S. adults had at least one chronic condition and 27.2% had multiple chronic conditions.
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The selected diagnosed chronic conditions included arthritis, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary heart disease, current asthma, diabetes, hepatitis, hypertension, stroke and weak or failing kidneys.