![]() “Can you put these pieces back together?”Īnd certain types of work were hit harder by COVID than others. ![]() “What does it mean when these ties have been broken?” Black asks. When we think about the children left behind, the single moms and single dads who don’t have a partner any longer, that’s going to create inequity that will be experienced for years to come.” Those lost took others to the doctor or checked in on friends or neighbors to make sure they were eating well and their blood pressure or sugar levels were okay. “People are dying in the prime of life,” says Andrew Stokes, an assistant professor of global health at the Boston University School of Public Health. “Death rates are up 40 percent over what they were pre-pandemic.” For comparison, he said, “a one-in-200-year catastrophe” would lead to a 10 percent increase, “so 40 percent is just unheard of.” Scott Davison, CEO of the insurance company OneAmerica, in late December 2021. Among working-age Americans, “we are seeing right now the highest death rates we have ever seen in the history of this business,” said J. About 240,000 Americans between the ages of 18 and 64 have died, nearly a quarter of the total toll. These deaths are more concentrated in even older populations: more than a quarter have occurred in those age 85 and older, while another quarter have been in those 75 to 84. In the U.S., there were 54.1 million people 65 and older in 2019, and since then the coronavirus has killed one out of every 74 of them. On average, every death from COVID leaves nine people grieving. “We’re probably not accounting for all the ways in which we rely on that age group to contribute to society,” from caring for grandkids to providing stable intergenerational family structures, Dowd says. Their passing leaves a giant hole, she notes. Many of them were otherwise healthy and, statistically, would have lived many more years, says Jennifer Dowd, a demographer at the University of Oxford. As of March 25, about three quarters of the dead, or around 730,000, have been people 65 and older. In the U.S., an estimated 243,000 children have lost a caregiver to COVID-including 194,000 who lost one or both parents-and the psychological and economic aftershocks can have lifetime negative impacts on their education and career.Ĭredit: Amanda Montañez Source: COVID Data Tracker, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( data retrieved on March 25, 2022)Ĭertain communities have been hit especially hard, with older Americans and people of color suffering disproportionately. ![]() The effects on children may be the longest-lasting. These deaths have wide-ranging consequences. “This is definitely a huge marker in the way we will think about society moving forward-it will be that anchor event.” COVID has become the third leading cause of death in the U.S., after heart disease and cancer. “We will see the rippling effects of the pandemic on our society and the way it impacts individuals for generations,” says Nyesha Black, director of demographic research at the University of Alabama. These immense losses are shaping our country-how we live, work and love, how we play and pray and learn and grow. This toll is likely an undercount because there are more than 200,000 other excess deaths that go beyond typical mortality rates, caused in part by lingering effects of the disease and the strain of the pandemic. ![]() has now officially recorded one million confirmed deaths from COVID. “Your person who was supposed to be there for life-to have that tragically ripped away has been a huge, huge adjustment to make.”Īs of May 12, the U.S. “I don’t know that you ever get over it,” says Jackson, who lives in Charlotte, N.C. Even now she still turns to find Charlie, eager to share a joy or a disappointment, only to remember with a jolt that there is a missing space where he once was. Charlie was an Army veteran who served in Iraq during Desert Storm, and Laura finds herself returning to images of war and loss-to those who have lost a limb but still feel its phantom tingle, who unthinkingly reach for a glass of water or try to step out of bed before realizing what has been lost forever. He died of COVID early in the pandemic, on May 17, 2020, just weeks after the couple celebrated his 50th birthday. Laura Jackson feels the loss of her husband Charlie like she is missing a part of herself. Editor’s Note (5/12/22): This story was updated when the White House announced one million COVID deaths in the U.S.
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