EYECARE: Coronavirus BRIEFING: Crisis Response Tactics COVID Drops to Fourth Place in Causes of Death in U.S. By Staff Tuesday, May 9, 2023 7:59 AM The number of deaths caused by COVID was more than halved in 2022, compared to the toll the virus wrought in 2021, according to new CDC data. The decline drops COVID from third place to fourth place as a leading cause of death in the U.S. Of the more than 3.2 million people who died in the U.S. in 2022, 186,702 died of COVID, the new data shows. The top causes of death in 2022 were: ● Heart disease: 699,659 deaths, compared to 695,547 in 2021. ● Cancer: 607,790 deaths, compared to 605,213 in 2021. ● Accidents and unintentional injuries: 218,064 deaths, compared to 224,935 in 2021. ● COVID: 186,702 deaths, compared to 416,893 in 2021.When taking into account COVID as not the underlying cause but instead as a contributing factor in a different cause of death, the virus would edge ahead of accidents for third place. Increases in drug overdose deaths were observed in the accidents and unintentional injuries category for 2022.Head over to WebMD to read the full story.