Deaths Spike In IL: Pandemic's Toll Likely Higher Than Reported

ILLINOIS — More than 20,000 Illinoisans have so far died from COVID-19, according to state health officials. But the true human toll of the virus is likely to be significantly higher, according to CDC data.

CDC death records show that more than 110,000 people died across the state between last March and Jan. 2. That's about 24,000 more deaths than the state's average from 2015 to 2019.

Researchers with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the virus is likely responsible for many of those excess deaths, which means the death toll could be as much as 44 percent higher than the 16,674 COVID-19 deaths officially reported by the state during that same time period.

Researchers say some deaths were likely caused by undiagnosed cases of COVID-19, while others may have been indirectly related to the pandemic — for example, deaths from other diseases that could have been treated if the health care system hadn't been overburdened caring for COVID-19 patients, or if patients hadn't been limited to virtual doctor visits. Indeed, researchers found spikes in respiratory and circulatory diseases, cancers, Alzheimer's disease and dementia — some of the most common COVID-19 comorbidities.

Across the country, still others lost their health care along with their jobs during the pandemic, leading to more than 30,000 deaths alone, according to a study from the University of California San Francisco.

In all, researchers estimate that COVID-19 was responsible for at least two-thirds of the excess deaths reported last year. The largest increases in deaths were among Hispanic or Latino Americans (53.6 percent), with slightly smaller spikes for Black Americans (32.9 percent) and Asians (36.6 percent). Deaths among white Americans was 11.9 percent higher than the 2015 to 2019 average.

Also, about 38 percent more deaths than expected occurred among young adults between 25 and 44 years old, meaning the pandemic may have been far deadlier for young Americans — especially essential workers — than previously thought.

According to the CDC, Illinois was one of the hardest hit states during the pandemic in terms of excess deaths. Unlike most other states, Illinois suffered a strong initial wave of deaths last spring, then another in the fall and early winter, with a high plateau in between.

Illinois crossed the grim milestone of 10,000 deaths on Nov. 5, nearly 8 months into the pandemic. In December, the state reported a record 238 deaths in a single day. The next 10,000 deaths took just three months — Illinois crossed that threshold in February.

Officially, more than 532,151 Americans have now died from COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University, making the past year the deadliest year in U.S. history.

In addition to the staggering death toll, 29 million Americans have caught the virus. According to the CDC, as many as a third of them have reported ongoing neurological and respiratory symptoms, including loss of smell and taste, "brain fog," fatigue, chest pain and trouble breathing — so-called "long haul" syndrome.

Many "long haulers" had no symptoms from their initial infection, according to an upcoming study first reported by the New York Times.