The agency analyzed death certificate data from last year and found that covid-19 was the underlying or contributing cause of more than 377,000 U.S. fatalities — making it the third leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease and cancer.
CDC data shows covid-19 was the third leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2020
The agency analyzed death certificate data from last year and found that covid-19 was the underlying or contributing cause of more than 377,000 U.S. fatalities — making it the third leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease and cancer.
In 2020, more than 3.3 million people died in total in the United States, the CDC said, in what was the nation’s highest-ever annual death toll. The staggering number of new deaths marked a jump of nearly 16 percent from the year before.
Overall death rates last year were highest among Black people and American Indian and Alaska Native populations. But the death rate from covid-19 peaked among Hispanic people, according to the CDC, as well as males and the elderly.
The agency’s data, which it said was preliminary, showed that nearly 225,000 people aged 75 and older died due to covid-19.
Total U.S. deaths from the pandemic now stand at more than 552,000, out of more than 30 million confirmed infections. Last year, the nation recorded the biggest spikes in covid-19 deaths in April and December 2020.
The CDC said in its report that the limited availability of testing for the virus at the beginning of the pandemic might have resulted in an underestimation of covid-19-associated deaths.
Delta will unblock its middle seats starting May 1, the last airline to do so
The last remaining U.S. airline blocking middle seats as a covid safety measure is getting ready to fill its flights again.
Delta Air Lines said Wednesday it would make all of its seats available to purchase again starting May 1. The announcement came in a news release that highlighted “more available seats to choose from.”
The statement added that nearly 65 percent of those who flew the airline in 2019 expect to have at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine by May 1, which factored into the decision to open up entire planes. Masks will still be required on flights.
Despite pandemic, global forests are disappearing even more quickly
The loss of forests critical to protecting wildlife and slowing climate change accelerated during 2020, despite a worldwide pandemic that otherwise led to a dramatic drop in greenhouse gas emissions, a global survey released Wednesday has found.
The Earth saw nearly 100,000 square miles of lost tree cover last year — an area roughly the size of Colorado — according to the satellite-based survey by Global Forest Watch. The change represents nearly 7 percent more trees lost than in 2019.
The vital, humid primary forests of the tropics, which store immense amounts of carbon, saw even greater devastation. More than 16,000 square miles of these forests vanished last year, a 12 percent increase, the survey found.
“It’s shocking to see forest loss increasing despite the covid crisis and the restrictions in many areas of life,” Simon Lewis, professor of global change science at University College London, said in an interview.
Maryland’s most populous county urges the governor to tighten coronavirus restrictions
Montgomery County officials on Wednesday urged Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) to consider tightening pandemic restrictions to address the state’s recent surge in coronavirus infections. This comes about three weeks after county officials pushed back on Hogan’s decision to lift capacity limits on nearly all businesses, a dramatic step toward reopening that has yet to be matched by officials in Virginia or the District.
“I said it would lead to another spike, and it pretty much has,” Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) said in a news conference. “The governor signaled to people that things are back to normal . . . and it’s not.”
County Health Officer Travis Gayles called on state officials to release metrics that would trigger a reimposition of certain restrictions, adding that residents need to know what the state sees as the “limit” for the current surge in infections.
Production problems at Baltimore plant ruin millions of Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses
Johnson & Johnson vaccine was contaminated by ingredients from another company’s vaccine at a manufacturing plant in Baltimore, federal officials confirmed Wednesday, ruining a batch of raw vaccine representing millions of doses and prompting a review.
However, Johnson & Johnson said in a statement that it was still on track to deliver the 20 million doses it promised the federal government by Wednesday, as well as another 24 million doses by the end of April.
The mixing of ingredients for coronavirus vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca occurred at a plant operated by Emergent, which has not yet been certified by the Food and Drug Administration to produce the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Emergent is a contract manufacturer for bulk vaccine substance for drugmakers Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. It also has federal agreements for the production of medicines to combat bioterrorism threats.
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