CDC finds Covid-19 drove 15% spike in US death rate in 2020: Report

Over 3 million people died in the United States in 2020, Politico said, adding Covid-19 was the third most common cause of death, behind only heart disease and cancer.

A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study has found that last year was the deadliest in US history, with Covid-19 helping to drive a 15% increase in deaths, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing sources.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 17: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Senior chaplain Andrea Cammarota speaks with a patient's family in the Emergency Department at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills neighborhood on February 17, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. The hospital is located in the northeast San Fernando Valley, which was a primary coronavirus hotspot in hard hit Los Angeles County. The patient population is predominantly from the Latinx community. In the US overall, Latinos are 3.2 times more likely to have been hospitalized as whites due to COVID, according to the latest CDC data. Increased chances of exposure to the virus, social determinants of health, economic and systemic inequities all contribute to heightened coronavirus risk. Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY == (AFP)

Over 3 million people died in the United States in 2020, Politico said, adding Covid-19 was the third most common cause of death, behind only heart disease and cancer.

The CDC will summarize its findings in an upcoming issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Politico said.

The analysis will detail the rates at which US residents of various races and ethnicities died as a result of the coronavirus as well as the total number of deaths in each demographic group, according to Politico.

The CDC and the US Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

More than 117.6 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 2,736,909​ have died thus far, according to a Reuters tally.

The United States has had the highest number of deaths from Covid-19 in the world, with over 528,000 fatalities, according to the tally. The country has thus far reported more than 29 million cases.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky has said the recent plateau of Covid-19 cases appeared to be trending downward, while new hospital admissions and coronavirus-related deaths were also decreasing.