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. 2021 Apr 9;70(14):523–527. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7014e2

TABLE 1. Distribution of death certificates with COVID-19 diagnosis* across five mutually exclusive categories defined by presence and classification of co-occurring diagnoses, by demographic characteristics, setting of death, and manner of death characteristics — National Center for Health Statistics, United States, January–December 2020.

Characteristic No. of death certificates No. (row %)
COVID-19 only COVID-19 and ≥1 chain-of-event condition only COVID-19 and ≥1 significant contributing condition only COVID-19 and ≥1 chain-of-event and ≥1 significant contributing condition COVID-19 with no plausible chain-of-event or significant contributing condition
Total
378,048
20,915 (5.5)
128,603 (34.0)
67,184 (17.8)
151,708 (40.1)
9,638 (2.5)
Age group, yrs
<18
182
8 (4.4)
70 (38.5)
18 (9.9)
22 (12.1)
64 (35.2)
18–29
1,426
77 (5.4)
636 (44.6)
167 (11.7)
401 (28.1)
145 (10.2)
30–39
4,161
275 (6.6)
1,712 (41.1)
550 (13.2)
1,371 (32.9)
253 (6.1)
40–49
11,053
660 (6.0)
4,551 (41.2)
1,408 (12.7)
3,982 (36.0)
452 (4.1)
50–64
55,719
2,911 (5.2)
22,788 (40.9)
6,693 (12.0)
21,666 (38.9)
1,661 (3.0)
65–74
80,705
3,841 (4.8)
30,439 (37.7)
10,756 (13.3)
33,820 (41.9)
1,849 (2.3)
75–84
104,294
5,277 (5.1)
34,784 (33.4)
17,858 (17.1)
44,179 (42.4)
2,196 (2.1)
≥85
120,508
7,866 (6.5)
33,623 (27.9)
29,734 (24.7)
46,267 (38.4)
3,018 (2.5)
Sex
Female
172,615
10,007 (5.8)
55,207 (32.0)
35,525 (20.6)
67,186 (38.9)
4,690 (2.7)
Male
205,423
10,907 (5.3)
73,392 (35.7)
31,658 (15.4)
84,518 (41.1)
4,948 (2.4)
Race/Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino
70,011
3,680 (5.3)
28,035 (40.0)
7,875 (11.2)
29,016 (41.4)
1,405 (2.0)
American Indian or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic
4,460
266 (6.0)
1,652 (37.0)
501 (11.2)
1,920 (43.0)
121 (2.7)
Asian, non-Hispanic
13,339
676 (5.1)
5,352 (40.1)
1,687 (12.6)
5,331 (40.0)
293 (2.2)
Black, non-Hispanic
59,468
3,114 (5.2)
21,065 (35.4)
9,151 (15.4)
24,688 (41.5)
1,450 (2.4)
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic
679
20 (2.9)
224 (33.0)
73 (10.8)
350 (51.5)
12 (1.8)
White, non-Hispanic
227,387
12,961 (5.7)
71,227 (31.3)
47,531 (20.9)
89,379 (39.3)
6,289 (2.8)
Multiracial, non-Hispanic
1,123
43 (3.8)
379 (33.7)
165 (14.7)
512 (45.6)
24 (2.1)
Unknown
1,581
155 (9.8)
669 (42.3)
201 (12.7)
512 (32.4)
44 (2.8)
Setting of death
Inpatient
240,770
10,084 (4.2)
103,475 (43.0)
18,719 (7.8)
104,250 (43.3)
4,242 (1.8)
Outpatient/Emergency department
12,851
830 (6.5)
4,287 (33.4)
2,411 (18.8)
4,971 (38.7)
352 (2.7)
Dead on arrival
339
34 (10.0)
98 (28.9)
70 (20.6)
122 (36.0)
15 (4.4)
Decedent's home
23,455
2,006 (8.6)
3,634 (15.5)
8,977 (38.3)
7,579 (32.3)
1,259 (5.4)
Hospice facility
10,458
412 (3.9)
2,722 (26.0)
2,430 (23.2)
4,612 (44.1)
282 (2.7)
Nursing home/Long-term care facility
82,843
6,986 (8.4)
13,183 (15.9)
31,904 (38.5)
27,597 (33.3)
3,173 (3.8)
Other
7,163
549 (7.7)
1,170 (16.3)
2,612 (36.5)
2,522 (35.2)
310 (4.3)
Unknown
169
14 (8.3)
34 (20.1)
61 (36.1)
55 (32.5)
5 (3.0)
Manner of death
Accidental
2,080
0 (—)
233 (11.2)
890 (42.8)
540 (26.0)
417 (20.0)
Could not determine
68
1 (1.5)
16 (23.5)
14 (20.6)
19 (27.9)
18 (26.5)
Homicide
32
0 (—)
6 (18.8)
6 (18.8)
6 (18.8)
14 (43.8)
Natural
344,307
20,399 (5.9)
116,812 (33.9)
63,981 (18.6)
134,267 (39.0)
8,848 (2.6)
Pending investigation
52
7 (13.5)
7 (13.5)
9 (17.3)
28 (53.8)
1 (1.9)
Self-inflicted
61
0 (—)
8 (13.1)
10 (16.4)
4 (6.6)
39 (63.9)
Missing 31,448 508 (1.6) 11,521 (36.6) 2,274 (7.2) 16,844 (53.6) 301 (1.0)

* International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision code U07.1.