One in 500 Americans has now died of Covid-19 since the coronavirus pandemic began last year, according to a new CNN report.
The death toll in the U.S. reached 663,913 people Tuesday night, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. It is 0.2% of the country’s 331.4 million residents, the most recent U.S. Census Bureau population.
In comparison, the flu kills between 12,000 and 61,000 Americans a year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Covid has killed more than ten times as many people in 18 months.
The Covid mortality rate is highest in New York State, where 1 in 356 residents (54,574 of 19.45 million New Yorkers) have died from Covid, according to the CDC. The state mortality rate is 280 per 100.00 residents (0.28%) compared to 200 per 100,000 nationwide.
New York State has the third highest total death toll, behind California (66,716) and Texas (58,901). Florida is fourth with 49,254 dead.
Currently, only three states have a higher mortality rate than New York. Mississippi has 9,061 deaths (or 304 per 100,000 residents), New Jersey has 27,709 deaths (or 304 per 100,000 residents) and Louisiana has 13,120 deaths (or 282 per 100,000 residents).
The CDC also breaks down Covid data on New York City and the rest of the state. Downstate New York has the highest mortality rate of 405 deaths per 100,000 residents, while Upstate New York has a much lower rate of 185 per 100,000 residents.
Concerns remain high over the Covid-19 delta variant, which now accounts for the majority of Covid cases across the country. Nearly 94% of all U.S. counties are seeing a large spread of Covid, including the 62 counties of New York State.
Nationally, the United States has experienced a 30% increase in the daily average of cases and nearly three times the average daily deaths over the past month, according to CNN analysis of CDC data. Most people hospitalized and killed by Covid-19 are not vaccinated.
Health experts have repeatedly encouraged Americans to get vaccinated against Covid-19, but only 54% of the U.S. is fully vaccinated. Most people hospitalized and killed by Covid-19 are not vaccinated.
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