Health departments in many states in the U.S. are now investigating a steep surge in the mortality rates of people between the ages of 18 and 49 that began in 2021, most of which are said to be not COVID-related. Deaths in the age group of 18 to 49 have increased by over 40% in the 12 months ending October 2021 compared to the same period beginning 2018 and ending 2019.
The analysis was made by The Epoch Times based on death certificate data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The agency does not have the complete figures for 2021 just yet, as death certificate data often has a delay of up to eight or more weeks.
The analysis found that the increase in mortality among people aged 18 to 49 varied depending on the state, with the most observable increase happening among the young and middle aged citizens of the South, Midwest, and the West Coast. States in the northeastern part of the U.S. saw smaller increases. Now, public health authorities in several states are investigating some of the largest increases in death rates among this age group.
The state with the second highest mortality among people aged 18 to 49 was Texas, with 61%. Of this number, 58% was because of COVID. Chris Van Deusen, the head of Media Relations at the Texas Department of State Health Services said that "Our Center of Health Statistics is looking at the data. We'll get back with you."
Meanwhile, Florida saw an increase of 51%, of which 48% was due to COVID. Health authorities in the state are also investigating the spike in mortality among people aged 18 to 49. Jeremy Redfern, spokesman for the Florida Department of Health said via email, "I am looking into it to see if there is some sort of correlation/causation."
Among all the states, the analysis showed the highest increase in mortality in Nevada with 65%, with only 35% of which was attributed to COVID. Nevada Department of Health and Human Services public information officer Shannon Litz said through email that she passed on questions about the mortality spike to the agency's Office of Analytics "for review."
The District of Columbia showed an increase in mortality with 72%, but none of it was related to COVID. According to the district's Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), the agency "does not currently have an epidemiologist (the position is being advertised) so it has no present ability to analyze the data."
Arizona's mortality rate spike by 57%, with 37% being attributed to COVID. Other states that recorded high spikes of mortality among those aged 18 to 49 include Tennessee with a 57% increase, of which 33% was due to COVID, and California with a 55% with 42% due to COVID. New Mexico saw a 52% increase, of which 33% was attributed to COVID, while Louisiana saw a 51% increase, with 32% being due to COVID.
Interestingly, states in the northeast such as New Hampshire saw no increase, while Massachusetts showed only a 13% increase in mortality, with 24% of it due to COVID. New York, which is one of the worst-hit by the coronavirus in the last two years, saw a 29% increase, with 30% of it being due to COVID.
The analysis comes after J. Scott Davison, CEO of insurance company OneAmerica, recently revealed during a health care conference that the group life insurance has seen up to 942,431 excess deaths in the U.S. since February 1, 2020, The Hill reported.
"Death rates are up 40 percent over what they were pre-pandemic," Davison said of the company's group life policy holders, which fall in the age group of 18 to 64 years old. "It may not all be COVID on their death certificates, but deaths are up in just huge, huge numbers."
