The National Safety Council is forecasting that Covid-19 is on track to be the third leading cause of death in 2020, following heart disease and cancer.
If the forecast remains accurate, this would mark the first time since 2016 that preventable deaths ”“ including drug overdoses, automobile accidents and falls ”“ would not be the third leading cause of death.
The latest available data places the total number of confirmed and probable Covid-19 deaths at more than 170,000, which is greater than the 167,127 total number of preventable deaths recorded in 2018.
As of this writing, Connecticut has recorded 4,456 deaths attributed to Covid-19 and New York has recorded 32,446. Regionally, Fairfield County recorded 1,411 deaths ”“ the second highest in the state, barely behind Hartford County”™s 1,420 ”“ and Westchester has recorded 1,448 deaths.
