The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the number of deaths from Covid-19 in the US was about 32% higher than reported between February 2020 and September 2021.
Interim data from the CDC also shows the U.S. passed the death milestone for the week ending May 14, and an analysis of the CNN of data released by the agency shows that severe outcomes disproportionately affected older Americans and minority populations.
About three-quarters of all Covid-19 deaths have occurred among the elderly, including more than a quarter among people age 85 and older, according to CDC data.
And while racial and ethnic disparities have narrowed over the course of the pandemic, the risk of dying from Covid-19 was about twice as high for blacks, Hispanics and American Indians compared to whites in the US.
Last week, President Joe Biden issued a proclamation marking one million deaths and ordered the American flag to be flown at half-mast, writing that the nation “must not be desensitized to such grief.”
“To heal, we must remember,” the president said in a statement.
“We must remain vigilant against this pandemic and do everything we can to save as many lives as possible.”
And all of this comes as Covid-19 cases are on the rise again across the country, with reported infections more than doubling last month in the US overall.
New York City has reached a “high” Covid-19 alert level, indicating high community spread and “substantial pressure on the healthcare system,” officials said.
People were encouraged to wear high-quality masks in all indoor public spaces and crowded outdoor spaces, regardless of vaccination status being known.
Worldwide, there have been more than 524 million reported cases of the virus since the start of the pandemic – more than 82 million of which were in the US.
Dark milestones during the pandemic
- The US reported its first 100,000 deaths about two and a half months later, on May 23, 2020, according to Johns Hopkins;
- There were 200,000 reported deaths about four months later, as of September 22, 2020;
- There were 300,000 reported deaths less than three months after that, as of December 12, 2020;
- There were 400,000 reported deaths about a month later, on January 17, 2021;
- There were 500,000 reported deaths about a month after that, as of February 21, 2021;
- There were 600,000 reported deaths about four months later, on June 16, 2021;
- There were 700,000 reported deaths about three and a half months after that, as of October 1, 2021;
- There were 800,000 reported deaths about two and a half months after that, as of December 13, 2021;
- Less than two months later, on February 4, the US reported a total of 900,334 deaths.
Overall, mortality rates were highest in the Northeast region of the country and lowest in the West region, according to Johns Hopkins data.
But at the state level, death rates were higher in Mississippi, Arizona and Oklahoma — each with more than 400 total Covid-19 deaths per 100,000 people — compared with Vermont and Hawaii, which had around 100 deaths. for every 100,000 people.
Globally, there have been more than 6.2 million deaths from Covid-19 reported, according to data from Johns Hopkins.
Vaccines have saved millions of lives
Vaccines for the virus have saved millions of lives, but about half of all Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. happened in the past year — by which time vaccines were already widely available to everyone age five and older.
And while the government has not shared an official estimate of how many vaccinated people have died from Covid-19, an analysis by CNN of CDC data shows that deaths in recent months have been divided much more evenly between vaccinated and unvaccinated people, as highly transmissible variants take hold, vaccine protection wanes, and booster adherence stagnates.
But the risk of dying from Covid-19 is still about five times higher for unvaccinated people than for vaccinated people, according to the CDC.
And evidence continues to accumulate around the critical importance of boosters.
Of vaccinated people who died of Covid-19 in January and February, less than a third received a booster dose, according to an analysis by CNN from the CDC data.
The remaining two-thirds had only received their primary grades.
Source: CNN Brasil
