Audit: COVID top cause of death in state

In spite of legislative audit that lists COVID-19 as the top cause of death in Kansas in last months of 2020, Republican lawmakers fear numbers were inflated.

By

State News

June 30, 2021 - 10:06 AM

Dr. Joseph Varon hugs and comforts a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) during Thanksgiving at the United Memorial Medical Center on Nov. 26, 2020 in Houston, Texas.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — COVID-19 was the leading cause of death in Kansas during the last four months of 2020, a legislative audit said Tuesday, prompting Republican lawmakers to call for more investigation of the numbers based on unsubstantiated theories that they could have been inflated.

The short report from the GOP-controlled Legislature’s auditing division said there were “slight variations” in the number of deaths from Sept 1 through Dec. 31 due to what are traditionally the leading causes in Kansas, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes and suicide. The audit said COVID-19 caused more than 2,500 deaths during those four months, surpassing deaths from each of the traditional top 10 causes.

Auditors also said that COVID-19 was largely responsible for a 14% increase in total deaths in Kansas for all of 2020. Deaths increased to about 31,000 last year from about 27,300 in 2019.

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