Coronavirus Among the Leading Causes of Death in America for April

This content leverages data from USAFacts, a non-profit that visualizes governmental data. You can learn more on its website, Facebook, and Twitter.

At least 35,173 deaths from coronavirus (COVID-19) have been reported at the state and local level in the U.S. between April 1st and April 21st, likely putting it near heart disease and cancer as the leading causes of death this month.

The last year where comprehensive Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data is available in the month of April was 2018. In April 2018, a total of 233,164 people died in the U.S. Of those, 54,235 died of heart disease (23%) and 48,786 died of cancer (21%). This chart from USAFacts compares monthly U.S. death totals from 2018 for heart disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, accidents, and strokes to COVID-19 deaths in 2020:

The CDC keeps a provisional death count related to COVID-19, and deaths in this data set are typically well below those reported by states and counties because it can take weeks for death certificates to reach the agency. This table from USAFacts compares the weekly provisional COVID-19 data to deaths from pneumonia, flu, and all causes:

— Eric Revell

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