Washington, Apr 1 (IANS): Covid-19 was the third leading cause of death in the US in 2020, behind heart disease and cancer, according to a new study of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Covid-19 pandemic caused approximately 375,000 deaths in the US during 2020. The Covid-19 death rate was the highest among Hispanics, the study published on Wednesday, revealed, Xinhua reported.

Covid-19 death rates were the lowest among children aged 1 to 4 years and 5 to 14 years, and the highest among those aged over 85 years. Meanwhile, the age-adjusted Covid-19 associated death rate among males was higher than that among females, according to the study.

The total number of deaths occurred in the country in 2020 was 3,358,814, an increase of 15.9 per cent over the previous year, according to the CDC.

The deadliest weeks of 2020 were at the beginning of the pandemic in April and then in the middle of the holiday surge in late December, the study showed.