COVID-19 is now the leading cause of death in the U S medicalxpress.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from medicalxpress.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
NEW YORK In January 2020, Americans learned about a new coronavirus in Wuhan, China. Not even one year later, the disease caused by the virus may be the leading cause of death in the United States, researchers say.
The official death statistics will not be available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention until next year.
For decades, both heart disease and cancer had the highest mortality rates, with approximately 1,700 and 1,600 deaths per day, respectively.
Yet between Nov. 1 and Dec. 13, the seven-day moving average for daily COVID-19 deaths tripled, from 826 to 2,430 deaths per day, according to the letter. On Wednesday, the U.S. reported a record 3,656 deaths, according to the John Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard.