Mayo Study Finds Increased COVID Death Rate in 1st Year of Pandemic

(Rochester, MN) —  A new study published by Mayo Clinic researchers finds the COVID-19 pandemic was linked to an increase in the death rate in Minnesota during the first year of the pandemic compared to the two previous years.  Deaths were driven by both COVID-19 and other causes linked with preventable “deaths of despair,” such as overdose, alcohol use and malnutrition. Researchers identified a 68-percent increase in assault by firearms, a 49-percent increase in accidental poisonings, a 48-percent  increase in malnutrition, and a 25-percent increase in liver disease. COVID-19 caused or contributed to almost 10 percent of all Minnesota deaths in 2020.