The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has calculated that the number of excess deaths in 2020, caused by the coronavirus epidemic, are closer to 285,000 to date, 30% more than the reported number of confirmed cases, the Washington Post reports.

“The number of people dying from this pandemic is higher than we think,” said Steven Woolf, director emeritus of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University, who has conducted independent analyses of excess mortality. “This study shows it. Others have as well.”

Trump has claimed that the “excess mortality” rate in the US is lower than reported, and he also claims that the rate is lower than in other First World countries.  The data cover the period February 1st to September 16th, meaning the number is certainly currently higher if the last 30 days were included in the calculation.

According to this study, in excess of 400,000 more people will die in 2020 than would typically be forecast.

The study looked at the number of people who died directly as the result of contracting the virus and had their fatalities recorded as confirmed fatalities.  It also includes people whose deaths were accelerated because, for example, they did not seek medical care or fear of contracting the virus or because their death certificates did not accurately reflect the impact of the virus because the person was not a confirmed case.