Adults Aged 65 Years and Older Account for 80 Percent of COVID-19 Deaths, Study Says

A study from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that while adults 65 and older only account for 16 percent of the U.S. population, they constitute 80 percent of COVID-19 deaths, reports the International Business Times . Yet the death toll for this group varies by state. COVID-19 deaths for those 65 and older were highest in Idaho at 94 percent and lowest in Washington, D.C., at 70 percent, and the former also was higher for COVID-19 deaths than all causes of deaths combined for the age group. Virtually all states had similar numbers apart from Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, New Mexico, New York, and Texas, which had the same percentages for COVID-19 deaths and all death causes. States with the highest death rate from the virus had a disproportionate number of deaths in long-term care communities, including Idaho, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, and Delaware. Persons 85 and older also showed a high death rate for COVID-19 at long-term care communities at 33 percent, versus 31 percent of deaths from all causes combined. The largest number of COVID-19 deaths in such communities was in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Kentucky, Delaware, and Ohio. New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois, California, and Michigan altogether comprise 61 percent of COVID-19 deaths among adults 65 and older.