More than 150,000 uncounted COVID-19 deaths occurred early in the pandemic, a study finds

[riversedge]

More than 150,000 uncounted COVID-19 deaths occurred early in the pandemic, a study finds
Steve Grove, a chaplain at Hennepin County Medical Center, prays in a COVID-19 patient's room, Dec. 10, 2021, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Steve Grove, a chaplain at Hennepin County Medical Center, prays in a COVID-19 patient’s room, Dec. 10, 2021, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

By MIKE STOBBE Updated 1:08 PM CDT, March 18, 2026

Comments 27

NEW YORK (AP) — .......................

About 840,000 COVID-19 deaths were reported on death certificates in 2020 and 2021. But a group of researchers — using a form of artificial intelligence — estimate that as many as 155,000 unrecognized additional deaths likely occurred in that time outside of hospitals. That would mean about 16% of COVID-19 deaths went uncounted in those years.

The overall findings, published Wednesday by the journal Science Advances, were close to estimates from other studies of pandemic deaths during that time. But the authors of the new study tried to determine exactly which deaths were more likely to be missing from the official tallies.

The answer: The undiagnosed dead were more likely to be Hispanic people and other people of color, who had died in the first few months of the pandemic, and who had been in certain states in the South and Southwest — including Alabama, Oklahoma and South Carolina.



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The count has long been debated, as false claims on social media said the number of COVID-19 deaths was inflated. Adding to the rancor was President Donald Trump, who in August 2020 retweeted a post claiming only 6% of reported deaths were actually from COVID-19 — a post Twitter later removed...................

[displacedvermoter]

1. Ya think...

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

2. Florida refused to acknowledge COVID on death certificates.

That's how they padded their "great numbers" DeathSantis was bragging about.

[Squaredeal]

3. My sister was an ICU nurse in southern Florida then.

She had to cope with 2-3 patient deaths per night. She would quietly walk into their hospital rooms to turn off Fox News on their TV screens as they lay asleep in their death beds. At the beginning, she had only one mask that she would carry with her in a plastic bag when not wearing it. Later, when masks were plentiful, she would hand them out to non-wearers in public, telling them that they shouldn’t risk bringing COVID to their families, parents or grandparents. Eventually, she caught COVID too from her exposure at work and it took her 30 days to recover. Many of her coworkers just resigned rather than risk catching it.

[LearnedHand]

4. I remember there were families who refused

To let COVID be listed as cause of death on death certificates.

[LymphocyteLover]

5. I blame Trump

[Eko]

6. Here is the link.

https://apnews.com/article/covid-deaths-pandemic-2116ac576c57e4f4c65ff42182d4a4ef