American COVID-19 Deaths Approach Annual Stroke Deaths

Health and Healthcare

Published: July 17, 2020 6:54 am

According to the Bing COVID-19 Tracker, almost 140,000 people have died from the disease in America. Medical experts say the first of these occurred on February 6, in Santa Clara, California. At the current rate of daily deaths from COVID-19, the total will pass the total annual deaths from strokes within a matter of days. The data on strokes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists the cause of these deaths “cerebrovascular diseases.”

The last year for which total stroke deaths are available is 2017, when they numbered 146,383, which makes it the fifth largest killer in America. The stroke deaths number is just short of deaths from chronic lower respiratory diseases at 160,201. It is just above deaths from Alzheimer’s disease at 121,404.

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington has one of the most widely regarded forecasts of U.S. deaths. Its prediction is that COVID-19 deaths will reach 208,255 sometime around November 1, with a range of 186,087 to 244,541, depending on circumstances like wearing masks that could bring the figure down to the low end of the estimate. The higher-end number is as much as 100,000 more than current fatal cases.

At a figure of 186,087, deaths would pass the fourth-largest cause of annual deaths in America, as previously mentioned, chronic lower respiratory diseases at 160,201, and in third place accidents (unintentional injuries) at 169,936.

As another measure of the spread of the disease, it has caused over 590,000 deaths worldwide. The second leading cause of death in the United States is cancer at 599,108. At the current rate of fatal coronavirus cases worldwide, within a month global deaths will top 650,000. The leading cause of annual deaths in the United States is heart disease at 647,457.

The number of COVID-19 fatalities measured against the leading annual cause of death in the United States and the world shows just how deadly the disease has become and how fast it is spreading.

ALSO READ: States Where the Most People Delayed Getting Medical Care Because of COVID-19

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