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As US deaths mount, virus takes outsized toll on minorities

In this undated photo provided by Charlton Rhee, Rhee, a nursing home administrator from New York, poses for a photo with his parents, Man Joon Rhee and Eulja Rhee. Charlton Rhee, whose parents came to the U.S. from South Korea, lost both of them to COVID-19 as the virus surged in New York City. A joint analysis by The Associated Press and The Marshall Project found that Asian Americans join Black and Hispanic Americans among the hardest-hit groups, with deaths in each group up at least 30% this year. (Courtesy of Charlton Rhee via AP)
In this undated photo provided by Charlton Rhee, Rhee, a nursing home administrator from New York, poses for a photo with his parents, Man Joon Rhee and Eulja Rhee. Charlton Rhee, whose parents came to the U.S. from South Korea, lost both of them to COVID-19 as the virus surged in New York City. A joint analysis by The Associated Press and The Marshall Project found that Asian Americans join Black and Hispanic Americans among the hardest-hit groups, with deaths in each group up at least 30% this year. (Courtesy of Charlton Rhee via AP) In this undated photo provided by Charlton Rhee, Rhee, a nursing home administrator from New York, poses for a photo with his parents, Man Joon Rhee and Eulja Rhee. Charlton Rhee, whose parents came to the U.S. from South Korea, lost both of them to COVID-19 as the virus surged in New York City. A joint analysis by The Associated Press and The Marshall Project found that Asian Americans join Black and Hispanic Americans among the hardest-hit groups, with deaths in each group up at least 30% this year. (Courtesy of Charlton Rhee via AP)

By ANNA FLAGG and DAMINI SHARMA of The Marshall Project and MIKE STOBBE and LARRY FENN of The Associated Press 6 min read

As many as 215,000 more people than usual died in the U.S. during the first seven months of 2020, suggesting that the number of lives lost to the coronavirus is significantly higher than the official toll. And half the dead were people of color – Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and, to a marked degree unrecognized until now, Asian Americans.

The new figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlight a stark disparity: Deaths among minorities during the crisis have risen far more than they have among whites.

As of the end of July, the official death toll in the U.S. from COVID-19 was about 150,000. It has since grown to over 170,000.

But public health authorities have long known that some coronavirus deaths, especially early on, were mistakenly attributed to other causes, and that the crisis may have led indirectly to the loss of many other lives by preventing or discouraging people with other serious ailments from seeking treatment.

A count of deaths from all causes during the seven-month period yields what experts believe is a fuller – and more alarming – picture of the disaster and its racial dimensions.