New study says US official tallies likely undercount deaths due to COVID-19

Source:Xinhua Published: 2020/7/2 9:45:39

Medical workers transport a patient from an ambulance to George Washington University Hospital in Washington D.C., the United States, May 13, 2020. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)


Official tallies of deaths due to COVID-19 in the United States underestimated the full increase in deaths associated with the pandemic in many states, according to a new study published on Wednesday.

The study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, found that the number of deaths due to any cause increased by approximately 122,000 from March 1 to May 30, which was 28 percent higher than the reported number of COVID-19 deaths.

To estimate the burden of all deaths related to COVID-19 in the United States from March to May, researchers evaluated the numbers of U.S. deaths from any cause and deaths from pneumonia, influenza, and COVID-19.

Evaluating unexplained increases in deaths due to all causes or attributed to nonspecific outcomes, such as pneumonia and influenza, can provide a more complete picture of the burden of COVID-19, according to the study.

The number of excess all-cause deaths was 28 percent higher than the official tallies of COVID-19-reported deaths during that period, the study found.

Excess deaths provided an estimate of the full COVID-19 burden and indicated that official tallies likely undercounted deaths due to the virus. The mortality burden and the completeness of the tallies varied markedly between states, according to the study. 

Posted in: AMERICAS,WORLD FOCUS

blog comments powered by Disqus