Adults Aged 65 Years And Older Account For 80% Of COVID-19 Deaths, Study Says

New research from the Kaiser Family Foundation has indicated that while adults 65 and older only account for 16% of the U.S. population, they make up 80% of COVID-19 deaths. However, the death rates for this high-risk group of adults has a different look, depending upon the state.

The study showed that COVID-19 deaths for people 65 and older were highest in the state of Idaho at 94% and the lowest in Washington, D.C., at 70%. The death toll number in Idaho was also higher for COVID-19 deaths than all causes of deaths combined for the age group.

Virtually all states reported similar results except for the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, New Mexico, New York, and Texas, which had the same percentages for COVID-19 deaths and all death causes.

Nebraska was the only state where COVID-19 deaths in older adults were less than the percentage for all death causes.

The death rate for COVID-19 was highest in states that had a disproportionate number of deaths in long-term care facilities, including the states of Idaho, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and Delaware.

Those 85 years and older also showed a high death rate for COVID-19 at long-term care facilities at 33% compared to 31% of deaths from all causes combined. The largest share of COVID-19 deaths in long-term care facilities was in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Kentucky, Delaware and Ohio.

Seven states make up 61% of all adults 65 and older deaths. These include New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois, California and Michigan.

Data up until the week ending July 11 was used for the data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The U.S. has reported over 4.2 million coronavirus cases and over 146,900 deaths as of Monday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University.