COVID-19 Becomes Nation's No. 3 Killer

Heart disease and cancer remain the leading causes of death in the US. But next comes COVID-19, for the first time. "COVID is now the No. 3 cause of death in the US," says Dr. Thomas Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "ahead of accidents, injuries, lung disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and many, many other causes." Johns Hopkins University data show the death toll has topped 170,000. In addition, contracting the disease is much more likely to be fatal in the US than in other parts of the world, CNN reports. Deaths in the US are averaging more than 1,000 a day. "Last week, Americans were eight times more likely to get killed by COVID than were Europeans," Frieden says. (More COVID-19 stories.)