Racial gap in US stroke deaths widened during pandemic

By MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The longstanding racial gap in U.S. stroke death rates widened dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s according to research published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Stroke death rates increased for both Black and White adults in 2020 and 2021. But the difference between the two groups grew about 22%, compared with the five years before the pandemic. COVID-19 itself may have caused some of the strokes, but experts think there were other reasons. That could include people who put off routine appointments and even those who feared going to hospitals in the early days of the pandemic.