US deaths from heart disease and diabetes climbed amid COVID

The U.S. saw remarkable increases in the death rates for heart disease, diabetes and some other common killers last year

NEW YORK -- The U.S. saw remarkable increases in the death rates for heart disease, diabetes and some other common killers in 2020, and experts believe a big reason may be that many people with dangerous symptoms made the lethal mistake of staying away from the hospital for fear of catching the coronavirus. The death rates — posted online this week by federal health authorities — add to the growing body of evidence that the number of lives lost directly or indirectly to the coronavirus in the U.S. is far greater than the officially reported COVID-19 death toll of nearly 600,000 in 2020-21. For months now, researchers have known that 2020 was the deadliest year in U.S. history, primarily because of COVID-19. But the data released this week showed the biggest increases in the death rates for heart disease and diabetes in at least 20 years. “I would probably use the word `alarming,'” said Dr. Tannaz Moin, a diabetes expert at UCLA, said of the trends.