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Excess Deaths and the Great Pandemic of 2020

Educational Objective
To identify the key insights or developments described in this article
1 Credit CME

Two new reports in JAMA provide updated estimates regarding the mortality associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the US. In a research letter by Woolf and colleagues, the authors update their analysis of the number of “excess” deaths in the US related to COVID-19 and other causes from March 1 through August 1, 2020.1,2 The authors report that during this 5-month period, a total of 1 336 561 deaths occurred in the US, an estimated 20% increase compared with the number of expected deaths, and representing 225 530 excess deaths.2 Approximately 67% of these excess deaths were attributable directly to COVID-19, whereas excess deaths attributed to other causes also could have been related to the pandemic in general.

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Article Information

Corresponding Author: Howard Bauchner, MD, JAMA (Howard.Bauchner@jamanetwork.org).

Published Online: October 12, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.20016

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.

References
1.
Woolf  SH , Chapman  DA , Sabo  RT , Weinberger  DM , Hill  L .  Excess deaths from COVID-19 and other causes, March-April 2020.   JAMA. 2020;324(5):510-513. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.11787PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
2.
Woolf  SH , Chapman  DA , Sabo  RT ,  et al.  Excess deaths from COVID-19 and other causes, March-July 2020.   JAMA. Published online October 12, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.19545Google Scholar
3.
Bilinski  A , Emanuel  EJ .  COVID-19 and excess all-cause mortality in the US and 18 comparison countries.   JAMA. Published online October 12, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.20717Google Scholar
4.
Simon  NM , Saxe  GN , Marmar  CR .  Mental health disorders related to COVID-19–related deaths.   JAMA. Published online October 12, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.19632Google Scholar
5.
Cooper  LA , Williams  DR .  Excess deaths from COVID-19, community bereavement, and restorative justice for communities of color.   JAMA. Published online October 12, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.19567Google Scholar
6.
Wadhera  RK , Wadhera  P , Gaba  P ,  et al.  Variation in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths across New York City boroughs.   JAMA. 2020;323(21):2192-2195. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.7197PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
7.
Cutler  DM , Summers  LH .  The COVID-19 pandemic and the $16 trillion virus.   JAMA. Published online October 12, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.19759Google Scholar
8.
Fineberg  HV .  The toll of COVID-19.   JAMA. Published online October 12, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.20019Google Scholar
AMA CME Accreditation Information

Credit Designation Statement: The American Medical Association designates this Journal-based CME activity activity for a maximum of 1.00  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to:

  • 1.00 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;;
  • 1.00 Self-Assessment points in the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery’s (ABOHNS) Continuing Certification program;
  • 1.00 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;
  • 1.00 Lifelong Learning points in the American Board of Pathology’s (ABPath) Continuing Certification program; and
  • 1.00 credit toward the CME [and Self-Assessment requirements] of the American Board of Surgery’s Continuous Certification program

It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting MOC credit.

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