Coronavirus Death Rate Drops for 12th Straight Week

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the 12th straight week of a declining coronavirus death rate in the United States.

Clay County mortality rate currently 0.008%

"Based on death certificate data, the percentage of deaths attributed to pneumonia, influenza or COVID-19 (PIC) decreased from 8.1% during week 27 to 6.4% during week 28, representing the twelfth week of a declining percentage of deaths due to PIC," according to the CDC website.

The CDC says a 12-week decline is a well-established trend that just so happens to coincide with states reopening their economies.  

For the week ending April 18th, there were 16,395 deaths involving coronavirus as reported by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). That number has dropped for 12 straight weeks, down to 1,099 deaths reported by NCHS for the week ending Jul. 11th. The number of deaths attributed to coronavirus, pneumonia, and influenza has similarly fallen, from 21,060 for the week ending Apr. 18 to 2,174 for the week ending Jul. 11th.

To get some perspective, for the week ending Jul. 4th, the NCHS reported 2,462 coronavirus deaths out of 42,219 deaths from all causes in the United States. For the week ending July 11th, just over a 1,000 coronavirus deaths were reported out of 24,723 deaths from all causes.

As more positive cases of coronavirus are identified, public health experts have pointed to better treatment options and the fact that more younger people are now testing positive for the virus. Younger people are less likely to die from the coronavirus than older people.

Also helping lower the death rate is the fact that the state of New York has discontinued the policy of sending coronavirus infected elderly patients into nursing homes filled with vulnerable seniors. Since the elimination of this practice, the death toll in New York has steadily declined, averaging less than 10 coronavirus deaths per day in a state with a population of over 19 million.

Clay County has a population of 249,948 and has reported 20 deaths attributed to coronavirus as of July 18th. This equates to a mortality rate of 0.008%.

KPGZ News - Jim Dickerson contributed to this report