Covid-19 drops to fourth leading cause of death in the US in 2022.

Covid-19 dropped to the fourth leading cause of death in the US in 2022, with heart disease, cancer, and injuries such as drug overdoses, motor vehicle fatalities, and shootings ahead of it. US deaths fell by 5% in 2022, the first drop since 2009, but still higher than pre-pandemic years. The CDC cautioned that the numbers are preliminary and may change after further analysis. The death rates for heart disease and cancer increased during the pandemic, while injury deaths slightly declined. The rate of drug overdose deaths involving fentanyl more than tripled in the US from 2016 through 2021, according to an earlier CDC report.