United States: deaths by firearms broke record in 2020

The number of firearm deaths in USA recorded a “historic” increase in 2020, possibly due to the effects of the covid-19 pandemic and poverty, according to a report by health authorities published on Tuesday.

LOOK: US court rejects Trump’s request to reinstate him on Twitter

With 19,350 homicides in 2020, an increase of almost 35% compared to 2019, and 24,245 suicides (+1.5%), these deaths “represent a persistent and significant public health problem,” said the report from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC).

The homicide rate stood at 6.1 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2020, a record in more than 25 years.

The homicide rate has risen sharply among men, teens, and young adults from African-American and Native American communities.

No region has been spared state Joined, but have increased most in counties with high poverty rates and ethnic minority populations. People also commit suicide more in poor, non-metropolitan and rural areas.

“Stress markers associated with the COVID-19 pandemic covid-19 may have played a role” in these increases, CDC Violence Prevention Program Specialist Tom Simons told reporters.

“They include changes or problems in services and education, social isolation, economic conditions such as job loss, housing instability, and difficulty meeting expenses related to the pandemic,” he added.

The report also noted that the risk of violence is associated with “longstanding systemic inequalities and (with) structural racism.”

He also cites “tensions in relations between the police and public opinion” in reference to the wave of protests that took place in the country after the death of George Floyd in May 2020 at the hands of a police officer and “the increase in purchases of firearms”, which registered a record with 23 million weapons sold, or domestic violence.

Source: Elcomercio

Deshawn