COVID-19 was 3rd leading cause of death in 2020, early CDC data shows

CDC
(Image credit: Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)

New early data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in the United States last year.

The CDC released provisional data on Wednesday that showed COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in 2020 behind heart disease and cancer, CNN reports. The death rate increased by 15.9 percent from 2019 to 2020, rising to 828.7 deaths per 100,000 people, with a total of 3.36 million deaths during the year.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.