According to the Centers for Disease Control, the top ten causes of death in 2017 for the United States were as follows [CDC Fast Stats]
1. Heart disease: 647,457
2. Cancer: 599,108
3. Accidents: 169,936
4. Chronic lung disease: 160,201
5. Stroke: 146,383
6. Alzheimer’s: 121,404
7. Diabetes: 83,564
8. Flu and Pneumonia: 55,672
9. Kidney Disease: 50,633
10. Intentional self-harm: 47,173
Notice the big jump from accidents (unintentional injuries) at number 3 to the top two causes, heart disease and cancer. Accidents is just under 170,000 deaths per year in the U.S. And the number five cause of death is Stroke at just over 146,000 deaths per year.
Where does Covid-19 stand? On the 24th of July, Covid-19 surpassed 148,000 deaths in the U.S. The first death was on the 29th of February. So those 148,000 deaths occurred in less than 5 months. And at a rate of about 1,000 deaths per day, which has been the pace for the last 4 days, we will hit 170,000 deaths in 22 days, that is, sometime in mid-August. **Updated to add: as of August 15th, Covid-19 is the third leading cause of death for 2020 with 171,867 deaths so far this year.
Right now, Covid-19 is the fifth leading cause of death for 2020. In less than a month, it will be the third cause of death for 2020, topped only by heart disease and cancer. This year, a new disease has killed more persons than kidney disease, or flu/pneumonia, or diabetes, or Alzheimer’s, or stroke. And it will soon kill more persons than lung disease or accidents.
Ronald L. Conte Jr.
Covid.us.org
Note: the author of this article is not a doctor, nurse, or healthcare provider.
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