Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the true death toll of the pandemic could be 20% higher than the official number. The CDC came to that conclusion after examining so-called excess deaths — the number of deaths above those in a typical year. The excess death rate among Hispanics is exceptionally high. The 2020 rate was 40% higher than in 2019; and for the first ten months of this year, it’s been 17% higher than in 2019.
Dr. Frank Dos Santos, chief medical officer at Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, discusses those numbers and what can be done to reduce them.
