DETROIT – Newly released data from the Center for Disease Control shows an increase in total deaths this year in states hard hit by COVID-19, including Michigan.
Total deaths in seven of the hardest hit states are nearly 50 percent higher than normal (previous five years) for the five weeks from March 8 through April 11, according to CDC data, analyzed by the New York Times.
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Data shows in Michigan, the partial death count is 121 percent of the count in a normal year, the equivalent of nearly 2,000 more deaths. (Find the latest Michigan COVID-19 data here)
The New York Times found in New Jersey, deaths have been 172 percent of the normal — more than 5,000 additional deaths, compared with an average count from the past five years. In New York City, 325 percent of the normal, a gap of 11,900 deaths.
Additionally, the CDC reported pneumonia and flu-related deaths from Feb. 1, 2020 to April 25, 2020, reporting 220 flu deaths in Michigan in the timeframe -- 2,559 died of pneumonia, 834 of which had both pneumonia and COVID-19.
As of April 29, Michigan has reported 3,567 COVID-19 related deaths.
The CDC data is partial and state’s are reporting COVID-19 deaths much quicker than at the federal level.
Related: Fact-check: Are hospitals reporting all deaths as COVID-19 related?
Michigan, like many other states, is reviewing death certificates and matching test results, which has resulted in a retroactive increase in COVID-19 deaths. More on this below from MDHHS:
“Regular reviews of death certificate data maintained in Vital Records reporting systems are conducted by MDHHS staff three times per week. As a part of this process, records that identify COVID-19 infection as a contributing factor to death are compared against all laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Michigan Disease Surveillance System (MDSS).
If a death certificate is matched to a confirmed COVID-19 case and that record in the MDSS does not indicate the individual died, the MDSS record is updated to indicate the death and the appropriate local health department is notified. These matched deaths are then included with mortality information posted to the Michigan Coronavirus website. As a result of the most recent assessment, today’s data includes 40 additional deaths identified by this methodology.”