Covid was the third leading cause of death in 2021

Plus: Bay Area prom leads to nearly 100 Covid cases

The CDC reported Friday that Covid-19 was the third leading cause of death in the United States in the year 2021. This is the second year in a row that the disease was the third leading cause of death, with heart disease and cancer being the first and second. The total number of Covid deaths rose from about 375,000 in 2020 to about 460,000 in 2021. Infections peaked twice in 2021, first in mid-January 2021 and then again in September with the delta wave. The omicron wave that struck the U.S. in late October didn’t peak until January 2022. And these are only the official numbers. A study in the Lancet published last month suggested that, when excess deaths are examined, many deaths caused directly or indirectly by the pandemic aren’t captured in the official counts. 

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