There was a 20% increase over expected deaths in the U.S. between March 1 and Aug. 1., per a study published in JAMA on Monday.
Why it matters: Experts say that excess deaths are the best way to measure the true impact of the pandemic, as the number accounts for people who died of the virus itself without being counted and those who died of causes that could have been prevented in non-pandemic times.
- Only 67% of the 225,530 excess deaths were attributed to the coronavirus.
Details: States have had widely varying experiences, with those hit hardest early on in the pandemic — New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts — seeing much higher excess death rates than the rest of the country.
- These three states accounted for 30% of all excess deaths in the U.S., even though they had shorter outbreaks than states that saw surges over the summer.