The Second Leading Cause of Death in the U.S., 'COVID-19'... Second Only to Heart Disease

Over 12,000 Deaths in the US in the Second Week of April
New York, Louisiana, and Washington DC Report Leading Cause of Death

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] As deaths from the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) surged in the United States, it rose to the second leading cause of death among Americans this month.

According to the Washington Post (WP) on the 16th (local time), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. during the second week of April (6th?12th) totaled 12,392, making it the second highest after heart disease deaths (12,626). Other major causes of death among Americans, aside from COVID-19 and heart disease, included cancer (11,437), respiratory diseases (3,279), accidental deaths (2,911), and stroke (2,764).

Just a month ago, during the third week of March (16th?22nd), COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. were only 337, not ranking among the major causes of death. However, the following week, the fourth week of March (23rd?29th), deaths rose to 2,024, and in the first week of April (March 30th?April 5th), deaths surged to 7,095, causing COVID-19 to enter the top 10 causes of death in the U.S.

In particular, New York City, which experienced a high number of deaths, recorded 3,850 COVID-19 deaths in the second week of April, exceeding the combined total of heart disease (337), cancer (244), and accidental deaths (41). Across the entire state of New York, to which New York City belongs, 5,226 people died from COVID-19 during this period. Additionally, Louisiana (364) and Washington DC (28) also recorded COVID-19 as the leading cause of death during the same period.

With the number of COVID-19 deaths continuing to rise in the U.S., there are concerns that COVID-19 will become the leading cause of death in the near future. According to COVID-19 statistics from Johns Hopkins University as of this day, the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. was 667,801, with 32,917 deaths.

Despite the increasing number of COVID-19 deaths, the Trump administration announced guidelines recommending a three-phase easing of lockdown measures on this day. It also continued attacks on the World Health Organization (WHO), accusing it of being pro-China. On the same day, 17 Republican members of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee sent a letter to President Trump emphasizing that "U.S. support for WHO should be conditional on the resignation of Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.