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The United States counted the most deaths ever in 2020.
Intermediate · easy · Sentence 1/21
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1/21
1.
The United States counted the most deaths ever in 2020.
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However, statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predict the number of deaths in 2021 will be even larger than in 2020.
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Robert Anderson keeps track of deaths for the CDC.
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He said when the numbers from November and December come in early next year, the deaths will be higher by about 15,000.
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The CDC numbers include all deaths, including those from natural causes like old age, plus accidents like car crashes or drug overdoses.
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Anderson said the deaths from COVID-19 in 2020 reached about 351,000.
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This year, however, the new coronavirus could be responsible for about 370,000 deaths.
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COVID-19 is the nation's number three cause of death, behind heart disease and cancer.
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Experts also think the U.S. will set a record in 2021 for drug overdose deaths.
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The number is expected to be more than 100,000 for the first time.
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Death statistics often increase from year to year.
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For example, there was an increase of 16,000 from 2018 to 2019.
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However, the number of deaths in the last two years rose sharply because of COVID-19.
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Kenneth Johnson studies deaths at the University of New Hampshire.
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He said the U.S. had its smallest population gain in history between July 2020 and July 2021 because of the pandemic.
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When vaccines became widely available in the U.S. partway through 2021, officials hoped the number of deaths would slow.
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However, because many Americans are still not vaccinated, people are still dying.
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The CDC says only about 65 percent of the eligible U.S. population is vaccinated.
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Ali Mokdad studies deaths at the University of Washington.
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He said the combination of new, easier-to-spread versions of COVID-19 plus the large number of unvaccinated people made the number of deaths higher than expected in 2021.
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I'm Dan Friedell.
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