Topline
As of Wednesday, more than 650,000 Americans had died from Covid-19. This is another significant milestone in a pandemic which has claimed more than 1000 lives per day on average. However, some states have suffered disproportionately high death tolls.
Since late February 2020, the average American death rate has been more than 1,100 per day. This was in addition to the first... [+] coronavirus deaths.
The Key Facts
According to Johns Hopkins University data, at least 650,532 Americans have been killed by Covid-19 since February 2020. This is an average of more than 1,100 deaths per hour since the first reported coronavirus death in late February 2020. According to CDC data, New Jersey, which experienced a severe early surge in Covid-19 infection in spring 2020, has the highest coronavirus mortality rate in the country, with 303 deaths per 100,000 residents. Mississippi has the second highest death rate at 291 per 100,000 residents. This is partly due to a recent outbreak of infections in Mississippi, which saw the nation's third-highest number of new cases per hour over the past week. According to CDC total deaths and Census Bureau population figures, New York has experienced 279 deaths per 100,000 people, which is the third highest rate in the country. The death rate statistics published annually by the CDC show that New York City (404 deaths per 100,000) is separate from the rest (184) of New York. Other five states with death rates exceeding 250 per 100,000 residents include Louisiana (273), Massachusetts (255) Arizona (261), Rhode Island (261), and Alabama (253). There have been 15 other states with more than 200 deaths per 100,000 people, including states such as Pennsylvania (221), Florida (218), Michigan (217) and Georgia (217), respectively.
Contra
Only seven states have total deaths rates below 100 per 100,000 residents. Hawaii (43), Vermont (43), and Vermont (43) are the most notable. Both of these states imposed strict public health restrictions in early 2020. They also have some of highest Covid-19 vaccination rates in the country. Other states with low overall deaths include Alaska (59), Maine (71) Oregon (77), Utah (82) & Washington (87).
Tangent
According to Johns Hopkins, the United States still experiences more than 1,400 deaths per day. According to the CDC, Texas has the highest number of deaths in the country (5.9 per 100,000 people over the last seven days), followed closely by Mississippi (5.4), Arkansas (5.2), and Mississippi (5.3). Meanwhile, eleven states reported less than one death per 100,000 people in the past week: California (0.4), Rhode Island (0.4) North Dakota (0.5), Michigan (6.6) South Dakota (0.6), Maine (7.7) Minnesota (0.7), New Hampshire (7.7), Indiana (0.8), Massachusetts (8.8) and Missouri (0.8).
Important Background
More than 18 months ago, the United States reported its first Covid-19 death: a man in his 50s living in Washington state. The country has been responsible for approximately 14% of all pandemics in the world, and has claimed more deaths from the disease than any other country. In spring 2020, the first wave of U.S. death occurred. This was a sudden increase that was felt most strongly in New York and New Jersey. Fatalities also increased last summer and winter. Recent Covid-19 deaths and cases spiked in July, when the more contagious delta virus became dominant. Cases rose across all 50 states, but the rates of vaccination in some of the most affected areas are lower than the average.
Surprising Fact
According to CDC statistics, seniors account for 78% of all Covid-19-related deaths in the United States. It is possible that this is why 92.4% of U.S. seniors have received at least one Covid-19 vaccination shot. This is almost 20 percentage points higher than the overall vaccination rate for eligible Americans.
What we don't know
Experts believe that coronavirus-related deaths are greatly undercounted, as not all cases have been properly identified.
