The U.S. has reached 800,000 deaths related to COVID-19, and along with that number comes another statistic that shows how the virus has disproportionately affected older Americans.
In 2021, 450,000 people in the U.S. have died from the virus so far, meaning more than half of all the deaths throughout the pandemic occurred this year, Reuters reported.
The data also shows that 75% of those who have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. have been 65 or older. This means that approximately 600,000 of the nearly 800,000 deaths were in the age range, The New York Times reported.
Since March 2020, 1 in 100 older Americans has died from the virus, while the ratio for those under 65 is 1 in 1,400.
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Regarding per capita deaths from the virus, the U.S. is currently ranked the worst against seven other major countries between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, Reuters reported.
The U.S. has been a COVID-19 hotspot accounting for 14% of all reported deaths from the virus and 19% of cases worldwide, and that number may only go up with the U.S. set to hit 50 million cases.
Cases are also expected to rise in the U.S., with more states confirming cases of the highly infectious Omicron variant.
However, research into the variant has shown that while it is more contagious, it is causing less severe illness in those who test positive for it.
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