Characteristics of Persons Who Died with COVID-19 — United States, February 12–May 18, 2020

Abstract

COVID-19-associated deaths were reported in the United States (1). Understanding the demographic and clinical characteristics of decedents could inform medical and public health interventions focused on preventing COVID-19-associated mortality. This report describes decedents with laboratory-confirmed infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, using data from 1) the standardized CDC case-report form (case-based surveillance) (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/ reporting-pui.html) and 2) supplementary data (supplemental surveillance), such as underlying medical conditions and location of death, obtained through collaboration between CDC and 16 public health jurisdictions (15 states and New York City). Case-based surveillanceDemographic and clinical data about COVID-19 cases are reported to CDC from 50 states, the District of Columbia, New York City, and U.S. territories using a standardized case-report form (case-based surveillance) or in aggregate. Data on 52,166 deaths from 47 jurisdictions among persons with laboratoryconfirmed COVID-19 were reported individually to CDC via case-based surveillance during February 12-May 18, 2020. Among the 52,166 decedents, 55.4% were male, 79.6% were aged ≥65 years, 13.8% were Hispanic/Latino (Hispanic), 21.0% were black, 40.3% were white, 3.9% were Asian, 0.3% were American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN), 0.1% were Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (NHPI), 2.6% were multiracial or other race, and race/ethnicity was unknown for 18.0%. (Table 1). Median decedent age was 78 years (interquartile range (IQR) = 67-87 years). Because information about underlying medical conditions was missing for the majority of these decedents (30,725; 58.9%), data regarding medical conditions were not analyzed further using the case-based surveillance data set. Because most decedents reported to the supplementary data program were also reported to case-based surveillance, no statistical comparisons of the decedent characteristics between the data sets were made. * Underlying medical conditions include cardiovascular disease (congenital heart disease, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, hypertension, cerebrovascular accident/stroke, valvular heart disease, conduction disorders or dysrhythmias, other cardiovascular disease); diabetes mellitus; chronic lung disease (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/emphysema, asthma, tuberculosis, other chronic lung diseases); immunosuppression (cancer, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, identified as being immunosuppressed); chronic kidney disease (chronic kidney disease, end-stage renal disease, other kidney diseases); neurologic conditions (dementia, seizure disorder, other neurologic conditions); chronic liver disease (cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis, chronic liver disease, end-stage liver disease, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, other chronic liver diseases); obesity (body mass index ≥30 kg/m 2 ). Information was collected from decedent medical records or death certificates. ...

COVID-19-Associated Deaths in San Francisco: the Important Role of Dementia and Atypical Presentations in Long-term Care Facilities

“…5 Most decedents had multiple co-morbidities reported by others, including diabetes and chronic cardiac and lung disease. 1 However, we found dementia was the most frequent comorbidity, driven predominantly by LTCF residents who comprised nearly half of our decedents. Additionally, LTCF decedents were more likely to present with altered mental status; nearly half did not present with any typical COVID-19 symptoms of fever, cough, or dyspnea.…”

“…Consistent with other reports, older adults in San Francisco remain the most likely to die due to COVID-19. 1,2 In San Francisco, as of July 30, 2020, persons ≥ 60 years comprise 14% of COVID-19 infections, yet 90% of deaths. 3 Asians accounted for nearly half of deaths, though they comprise only 10.2% of COVID-19 infections in San Francisco.…”

“…3 In contrast, statewide and nationally, higher proportions of Latinos, Whites, and Blacks have died due to COVID-19. 1,2,4 This finding may be due to demographics specific to San Francisco; in 2019, of persons ≥ 60 years, 43% were Asian. 5 Most decedents had multiple co-morbidities reported by others, including diabetes and chronic cardiac and lung disease.…”

Preventing COVID-19 Outbreaks in Long-Term Care Facilities Through Preemptive Testing of Residents and Staff Members — Fulton County, Georgia, March–May 2020

“…Long-term care facility (LTCF) residents are at particularly high risk for morbidity and mortality associated with infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), given their age and high prevalence of chronic medical conditions, combined with functional impairment that often requires frequent, close contact with health care providers, who might inadvertently spread the virus to residents (1,2). During March-May 2020 in Fulton County, Georgia, >50% of COVID-19-associated deaths occurred among LTCF residents, although these persons represented <1% of the population (3,4).…”

Dynamic Modeling of Reported COVID-19 Cases and Deaths with Continuously Varying Case Fatality and Transmission Rate Functions

“…As mentioned in the CDC reports [17][18][19], the median incubation period is 4 days, ranging from 2 -7. Among 305 hospitalized patients and 10,647 recorded deaths, the median time of hospitalization was 8.5 days and the median interval from illness onset to death was 10 days (IQR = 6 -15 days).…”