Final mortality data for the year will not be available for months. But preliminary figures suggest that the United States is on track to see more than 3.2 million deaths. But the 2020 numbers amount to a jump of about 15% — and could go higher once all the December deaths from the post-Thanksgiving coronavirus surge are counted. A burst of pneumonia cases early this year may have been COVID-19 deaths that weren’t recognized as such in the initial days of the outbreak. Last week, the CDC reported more than 81,000 overdose deaths in the 12 months that ended in May, the highest number ever recorded in a one-year period.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 22, 2020 05:07 UTC