In 2020 country sees biggest increase in deaths since 1918 flu pandemic
Published 6:12 am Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Marking the deadliest year in United States history, preliminary numbers show the country experienced a more than 15% increase in overall deaths this year.
As a percentage increase, the increase would mark the largest single-year increase since 1918, when the country grappled with a deadly flu pandemic.
Similarly, the increase in deaths in 2020 is in part to the coronavirus pandemic that has killed nearly 320,000 Americans, and counting.
Final mortality data for this year will not be available for months. But preliminary data suggest that the United States is on track to see more than 3.2 million deaths this year, or at least 400,000 more than in 2019.
The increase would be about 15%, and possibly more.