The COVID-19 pandemic has spread so rapidly since the first U.S. case was reported Jan. 20 that it’s now the third-leading cause of death in the country, Thomas Frieden, MD, former director of the CDC, told CNN.
"COVID is now the number 3 cause of death in the U.S. -- ahead of accidents, injuries, lung disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and many, many other causes," Frieden said.
The CDC says heart disease and cancer are the first and second leading causes of death.
The coronavirus has caused more than 170,000 deaths in the United States and has been taking more than 1,000 lives weekly for several weeks, Frieden said.
"Last week, Americans were 8 times more likely to get killed by COVID than were Europeans," he said.
The number of deaths -- and cases -- in the United States may be undercounted because not enough people are tested, experts have said.