The first look at 2020's death certificates paints a stark picture of the pandemic's toll. The overall age-adjusted death rate in the United States jumped by 15.9%. COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death for the year, behind only heart disease and cancer.
The data also shows the burden was not shared equally. Overall death rates were highest among Black and American Indian or Alaska Native people. When looking specifically at deaths from COVID-19, the death rate was highest among Hispanic people. This highlights the profound disparities that emerged during the crisis.
It's crucial to understand what this report is and isn't. It's based on provisional, or early, death certificate data from 2020. The findings show associations—patterns of who died—but cannot prove what caused the increase in deaths or the reasons behind the racial and ethnic disparities. The data provides a sobering initial count, a measure of loss that researchers will study for years to come.