ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in St. Louis County in 2020, behind heart disease and cancer, according to a report by the county Department of Public Health.
The pandemic killed 1,310 county residents last year, accounting for 11% of the county's total 11,958 deaths.
In fact, COVID-19 was the seventh-leading cause of death in the county over the last five years, according to the report, which analyzed state and county death records since 2016.
Because of the pandemic, the county's mortality rate spiked by 21.3% over 2019, the report said. The mortality rate is calculated by the number of deaths per 100,000 people.
Spring Schmidt, deputy health director, said the increase was "unprecedented." While the number of deaths due to chronic diseases like heart disease fluctuate year to year, they rarely cause dramatic spikes in the mortality rate, she said.
The last time the county recorded an increase in mortality rate, in 2018, it had jumped by 7.9%. Last year, the mortality rate decreased from 2019 6.3%.
Missouri recorded a similar spike in the statewide mortality rate in 2020, according to a report last month by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The state mortality rate jumped nearly 19% over 2019, for the highest year-over-year jump in mortality since the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918.
Average life expectancy across the state fell by 2.1 years, from 77.4 to 75.3 years, the lowest life expectancy since 1994. Nationwide, life expectancy dropped by 1.5 years, to 77.3 years.
In St. Louis County, the average life expectancy rate dropped by 2.3 years, from 79 to 76.7, according to county records.
But the drop was even more pronounced for Black residents, as COVID-19 exacerbated inequities in income and access to health and other public services between predominantly Black north St. Louis County and other parts of the county, the report said. Chronic health conditions like heart disease and diabetes that made COVID-19 more dangerous are also more prevalent among Black residents.
Life expectancy for Black women in the county dropped 3.9 years, from 78 to 74.1 years, and Black men by 3.4 years, from 67.1 to 63.7 years.
White women saw a drop of 1.7 years, from 83.6 to 82, and white men a 1.9 drop from 78 to 74.1 years.
The COVID-19 death rate among Black residents was 2.4 times that of white residents, after accounting for age differences between the two populations, according to the report. The death rate among Asian-Americans was 87.2, and 79.9 among Hispanics.
While all but five county ZIP code areas experienced a drop in life expectancy, the average life expectancy in north St. Louis County ZIP codes was up to 20 years less than west and south St. Louis County ZIP codes.
The report released Monday focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, but health officials also documented double-digit increases in deaths due to fatal drug overdoses, which increased 47%, and fatal vehicle crashes, which increased 14%.
In the year 2020 alone, a record 352 county residents died of drug overdoses, up 13% from a previous record of 311 fatal overdoses.
The county tallies causes of death and life expectancy every two years, Schmidt said. But the health department did not produce the report in 2020, because it reassigned the department's epidemiology team to combating COVID-19, she said.
