The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there have been over 1 million excess deaths in the United States since February 2020 linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to CDC data, which is updated on a weekly basis, the number of excess deaths in the country was 1,045,389 as of Feb. 17. Excess death is a term used in epidemiology and public health. It refers to the number of people who die from any cause during a specific period of time and is compared with a historical baseline from recent years. The state with the highest number of excess deaths since February 2020 is California, which accounts for 104,553, followed shortly by Texas, with 98,271 excess deaths, according to the CDC. Hawaii has the lowest number of excess deaths with 1,372. The CDC says that estimates of excess deaths “can provide information about the burden of mortality potentially related to the COVID-19 pandemic, …