Study: Nearly 500 alcohol-related deaths a day in U.S. during pandemic

There were an average of about 488 deaths per day from excessive alcohol drinking in 2020-2021, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to new federal data (Source: “Excessive alcohol drinking drove about 488 deaths per day during the pandemic, CDC says,” CNN, Feb. 29).

A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the average number of deaths related to excessive alcohol use increased more than 29% from 2016-2017 to 2020-2021. During 2016-2017 there were 137,927 alcohol-related deaths, but for 2020-2021, there were 178,307.

The increase in deaths related to excessive alcohol seemed to hit all ages, and although there were more alcohol-related deaths among men, the increase was larger for women. For women, excessive alcohol use-related deaths from 2016-2017 increased about 35% from 2020-2021, and death rates were highest from heart disease and stroke. Excessive drinking-related deaths among men increased nearly 27% in that same time period, with most of those deaths related to chronic conditions caused by alcohol.

The increase in excessive drinking-related deaths documented in this study is not an isolated trend. For the past two decades, deaths from excessive alcohol use have been increasing in the United States, the CDC said.