July 2, 2020 at 8:59 AM EDT
The other coronavirus toll: Thousands more excess deaths from heart disease and other ailments
The coronavirus killed tens of thousands in the United States during the pandemic’s first months, but it also left a lesser-known toll: thousands more deaths than would have been expected from heart disease and a handful of other medical conditions, according to an analysis of federal data by The Washington Post.
The analysis suggests that in five hard-hit states and New York City, there were 8,300 more deaths from heart problems than would have been typical in March, April and May — an increase of roughly 27 percent over historical averages.
That spike contributed to a combined 75,000 “excess deaths” during that period in Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey and New York state and the city, 17,000 more than the number officially attributed to covid-19.
By Reis Thebault, Lenny Bernstein, Andrew Ba Tran and Youjin Shin
