More than 150,000 uncounted COVID-19 deaths occurred early in the pandemic, a study finds [View all]

More than 150,000 uncounted COVID-19 deaths occurred early in the pandemic, a study finds
Steve Grove, a chaplain at Hennepin County Medical Center, prays in a COVID-19 patient's room, Dec. 10, 2021, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Steve Grove, a chaplain at Hennepin County Medical Center, prays in a COVID-19 patient’s room, Dec. 10, 2021, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

By MIKE STOBBE Updated 1:08 PM CDT, March 18, 2026

Comments 27

NEW YORK (AP) — .......................

About 840,000 COVID-19 deaths were reported on death certificates in 2020 and 2021. But a group of researchers — using a form of artificial intelligence — estimate that as many as 155,000 unrecognized additional deaths likely occurred in that time outside of hospitals. That would mean about 16% of COVID-19 deaths went uncounted in those years.

The overall findings, published Wednesday by the journal Science Advances, were close to estimates from other studies of pandemic deaths during that time. But the authors of the new study tried to determine exactly which deaths were more likely to be missing from the official tallies.

The answer: The undiagnosed dead were more likely to be Hispanic people and other people of color, who had died in the first few months of the pandemic, and who had been in certain states in the South and Southwest — including Alabama, Oklahoma and South Carolina.



........................

The count has long been debated, as false claims on social media said the number of COVID-19 deaths was inflated. Adding to the rancor was President Donald Trump, who in August 2020 retweeted a post claiming only 6% of reported deaths were actually from COVID-19 — a post Twitter later removed...................