America has suffered 300,000 excess non-Covid deaths since 2020
The US has suffered nearly 300,000 more deaths than normal in more than two years of the pandemic that cannot be attributed to Covid, with researchers blaming the shutdown and delays on health care.
The latest official data shows there were 1.26 million excess deaths between February 2020 and the end of 2022, of which about 295,000 were not Covid-19s leading cause of death on death certificates.
These are believed to consist mostly of the sudden rise in deaths from cancer, heart disease, drug overdoses, and firearms during the pandemic, however, a full analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is likely weeks away.
These mandates related to the pandemic have kept the people most in need of care away from the doctor’s office — which could cost thousands of lives, Dr. Quady Wing, a health policy expert from Indiana University, told DailyMail.com.
The official death toll from Covid-19 per CDC is close to 1.1 million, but that doesn’t include related deaths such as fatal overdoses during lockdowns.
The United States (in yellow) experienced a larger increase in deaths than many other countries, including Sweden (in blue), which famously opted against Covid-lockdown measures. The country has experienced a 14 percent increase in deaths over the past three years compared to the expected average number of deaths calculated from previous years. For comparison, Sweden registered a five percent increase, while the United Kingdom (green) recorded a 10 percent jump
“It’s a difficult question to decide how many lives have been saved by the lockdowns themselves,” Dr. Wing told DailyMail.com.
What we’re finding is that some of the things that people have done to avoid the risks of Covid, one of those things has been to reduce healthcare use regularly, and that had health consequences.
As a result, their condition either worsened or they developed diseases that could have instead been detected unnoticed until they got sicker.
He also noted that the people most likely to cancel appointments were also likely to be the sickest — exacerbating their health issues. “Reducing care for Covid-susceptible groups has been detrimental to their health,” Dr Wing continued.
Data from nearly every country that imposed lockdowns in spring 2020 shows a sharp increase in deaths from other causes such as heart disease, cancer and other common diseases.
Leading experts in the UK have suggested that up to 3,000 Britons die each week due to disruptions to daily life caused by the country’s strict lockdowns, for example. The nation recorded 2,837 excess deaths during the week ending Jan. 13, with just five percent attributed to Covid.
Some experts believe the recent increase in other causes of death around Britain could have been avoided without the strict lockdowns.
It’s difficult to say how many lives the lockdown has actually saved, said Dr. Kwade Wing (pictured), a health policy expert from Indiana University.
According to the CDC, the United States experienced 1,265,751 excess deaths between February 1, 2020, and December 31, 2022.
Unlike the UK and European countries, the US has never gone into a national lockdown; Instead, the federal government has left pandemic decisions to officials at the state, county, and city levels.
While some states, such as California and New York, have enacted strict mandates, others, such as Florida and Texas, have avoided state-level orders altogether.
Even after rescinding many of those orders, many clinics have turned primarily to telehealth services rather than in-person doctor visits to keep people off healthcare and prevent the spread of the virus among the most vulnerable.
Out of fear of the virus and to avoid overwhelming healthcare systems, many Americans have also decided to postpone doctor visits themselves. This has led to an increase in the number of deaths during the pandemic caused by factors outside the virus.
Center for Disease Control Reports indicate a rise of five percent in cancer deaths in 2020, and a 2021 study found that cancer cases are now being detected later than usual in America—increasing the per-case mortality risk.
A study published last year By researchers at the Dartmouth Institute in New Hampshire, they found a 22 percent increase in Alzheimer’s deaths in the first year of the epidemic.
In a 2022 study, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers found that heart disease deaths increased by four percent in 2020, representing “about five years of lost progress” in the battle against America’s leading killer, agency researchers wrote.
Drug overdose deaths have also increased, with the country reporting a record 108,000 overdose deaths in 2021. This is a 15 percent increase from the previous record in 2020.
While disruptions to medical treatment could play a role in these deaths, it’s possible that the spread of the highly potent — and lethal — fentanyl is partly responsible for the increase as well.
In October, Dr. Angie Zeidan, an economist from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Dr. Wing Search a post looking at it How have these lockdowns affected the death numbers.
They found that between 25 and 33 percent of non-Covid deaths during the first two months of the pandemic were caused by missing appointments. This is because people miss surgeries, check-ups, and other necessary treatments.
California has had the most excess deaths from causes other than Covid despite strict pandemic lockdowns and mask orders
The United States has recorded more excess deaths than most Western European countries, including Sweden, despite the country’s lockdown orders early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Steve Hanke (pictured), an economist at Johns Hopkins University, found that the lockdowns only saved about 10,000 lives across the US and Europe.
Dr. Steve Hanke, a school economist in Baltimore, Maryland, found that strict Covid protocols in early 2020 saved 10,000 lives across the United States and Europe.
He led research on the real impact of lockdowns alongside researchers from Sweden and Denmark, and found that disruptive policies reduced the Covid death rate by just 0.1%.
“The lockdown study found that lockdowns in the spring of 2020 had little effect on Covid deaths,” Dr. Hanke told DailyMail.com.
According to a 2022 analysis led by researchers from Johns Hopkins University, closing businesses did little to prevent deaths.
Our meta-analysis includes studies using two different methods. Depending on the method used, the lockdowns have averted between 6,000 and 23,000 deaths in Europe; Whereas, there are approximately 72,000 deaths due to influenza in Europe each year.
In California, major cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco have repeatedly instituted mask orders, curfews and other lockdown measures throughout the pandemic. Golden State scored 33,730, the most of any state by a wide margin.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, on the other hand, has staunchly opposed Covid measures and even banned some vaccine checks and mask orders in his state.
Despite its more lenient Covid policies, Florida has recorded 20,000 excess non-Covid deaths, far fewer than California.
America has experienced a greater cumulative death increase than many of its peers.
As of November 27, the latest data available from OurWorldInData, America has suffered 14 percent more deaths than expected since January 1.
This is higher than the UK (10 per cent more deaths than expected) and Spain (11 per cent), both of which were more likely to be in lockdown than the US.
It is also higher than Sweden (five percent), a country notorious for not implementing strict Covid orders when the pandemic first began.
While whether lockdowns might save lives is still being debated, experts point to the devastation the policy has had on economies around the world.
“The lockdowns were a clear economic wrecking ball,” said Dr. Hanke.
After the lockdowns, GDP fell and bankruptcies increased. Excess deaths from undiagnosed or untreated fatal conditions have increased.
Children lost face-to-face learning, which slowed skill accumulation and decreased productivity. The World Health Organization estimates a 25 percent increase in anxiety disorders during the first year of the pandemic.
“Large sections of the national workforce have left their jobs, never to return.”
The International Monetary Fund has estimated a three percent drop in global GDP due to the lockdowns.
Known as one of the worst economic periods in generations, the 2009 global financial crisis registered a decline of just 0.1 percent for comparison.
Of the nearly 300,000 non-Covid excess deaths, more than 10 percent have occurred in California.
Golden State scored 33,730, the most of any state by a large margin. The Democratic-run country has had strict lockdowns and mask orders that lasted for months in major metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and San Francisco.