Well, that's interesting, since... we know there were increased deaths NOT related to Covid. see:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db427.htm
I think you're looking at this table.
What are the death rates for the 10 leading causes of death?
In 2020, 9 of the 10 leading causes of death remained the same as in 2019. The top leading cause was heart disease, followed by cancer (
Figure 4). COVID-19, newly added as a cause of death in 2020, became the 3rd leading cause of death. Of the remaining leading causes in 2020 (unintentional injuries, stroke, chronic lower respiratory diseases, Alzheimer disease, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, and kidney disease), 5 causes changed ranks from 2019. Unintentional injuries, the 3rd leading cause in 2019, became the 4th leading cause in 2020. Chronic lower respiratory diseases, the 4th leading cause in 2019, became the 6th. Alzheimer disease, the 6th leading cause in 2019, became the 7th. Diabetes, the 7th leading cause in 2019, became the 8th. Kidney disease, the 8th leading cause in 2019, became the 10th leading cause in 2020. Stroke, and influenza and pneumonia, remained the 5th and 9th leading causes, respectively (
1). Suicide dropped from the list of 10 leading causes in 2020. Causes of death are ranked according to number of deaths (
1). The 10 leading causes accounted for 74.1% of all deaths in the United States in 2020.
From 2019 to 2020, age-adjusted death rates increased for 6 of 10 leading causes of death and decreased for 2. The rate increased 4.1% for heart disease (from 161.5 in 2019 to 168.2 in 2020), 16.8% for unintentional injuries (49.3 to 57.6), 4.9% for stroke (37.0 to 38.8), 8.7% for Alzheimer disease (29.8 to 32.4), 14.8% for diabetes (21.6 to 24.8), and 5.7% for influenza and pneumonia (12.3 to 13.0). Rates decreased 1.4% for cancer (146.2 to 144.1) and 4.7% for chronic lower respiratory diseases (38.2 to 36.4). The rate for kidney disease remained unchanged.
Data comparisons from 2019 to 2020 for COVID-19 are not applicable because COVID-19 was a new cause in 2020.
Figure 4. Age-adjusted death rates for the 10 leading causes of death in 2020: United States, 2019 and 2020
image icon
*COVID-19 became an official cause of death in 2020; rates for 2019 are not applicable.
1Statistically significant increase in age-adjusted death rate from 2019 to 2020 (
p < 0.05).
2Statistically significant decrease in age-adjusted death rate from 2019 to 2020 (
p < 0.05).
NOTES: A total of 3,383,729 resident deaths were registered in the United States in 2020. The 10 leading causes of death accounted for 74.1% of all deaths in the United States in 2020. Causes of death are ranked according to number of deaths. Rankings for 2019 data are not shown. Data table for Figure 4 includes the number of deaths for leading causes and the percentage of total deaths.
Access data table for Figure 4pdf icon.
SOURCE: National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, Mortality.
That's why I said look at total increase. Many of the classes above can be related to the initial and pre-vaccine form of the virus infection. Cancer and heart disease deaths due to covid may very well lag because the effects of reduced pre-emptive medical care won't show up for a few years. Unintentional injuries is perplexing. Why on earth?