300,000 excess deaths

New York: Nearly 300,000 more people have died in the United States in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic than would be expected based on historical trends, with at least twothirds due to Covid19, a government report released yesterday showed, adding that Covid deaths were probably undercounted.

The report from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that 299,028 more people died between January 26 and October 3 than the average numbers from past years would have indicated.

The CDC said about 216,000 US deaths from the coronavirus had been reported by the middle of this month. ‘‘This might underestimate the total impact of the pandemic on mortality,’’ it said. — Reuters