Covid-19 has caused more deaths than drug overdoses, motor vehicle crashes and falls combined during 2018
Covid-19 mortality numbers have already surpassed the total annual number of preventable, accidental deaths in 2018, according to the National Safety Council’s (NSC) most recent data. At this pace, COVID-19 likely will be the third leading cause of death in 2020, behind only heart disease and cancer. It would mark the first time since 2016 that preventable deaths – which include drug overdoses, motor vehicle crashes and falls – would not be the third leading cause of death in the United States.
According to the latest data, the number of confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. now exceeds 170,000, eclipsing the total number of preventable deaths in 2018 (167,127).
Although preliminary, this grim milestone clearly illustrates the scale of the pandemic. In a little more than six months, COVID-19 has claimed more lives than accidental drug overdoses, motor vehicle crashes and falls combined during 2018.
COVID-19 is also having an impact on preventable deaths, with increases in opioid overdose and motor vehicle fatality rates as an indirect consequence of the pandemic.
