By Brigid Kennedy The Week
Over two years into the pandemic, the U.S. is approaching the “once-unthinkable” threshold of 1 million COVID-19 deaths, The Wall Street Journal reports Monday.
Of the 990,000 and counting death certificates recorded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “at least 90 percent list COVID-19 as the underlying cause of death,” the Journal reports. The remaining 10 percent list the virus as a contributing cause of death.
The New York Times has estimated the country will arrive at the 1-million mark within the coming weeks. When independently analyzed using the current seven-day average of 376 deaths, per CDC data, The Week similarly calculated the U.S. would hit one million COVID deaths in about a month.
Meanwhile, experts have cautioned that the virus’ exact toll is likely being underestimated in official reports, considering undiagnosed cases, especially those from early 2020, per the Journal.
