This year on track to surpass 2020 as deadliest in US history

Medical staff move a Covid-19 patient who died to a loading dock to hand off to a funeral home van, at the Willis-Knighton Medical Center in Shreveport (AP)

Health officials in the US say 2021 is on track to surpass last year as the deadliest year on record.

Robert Anderson, who oversees the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) death statistics, said available data shows 2021 is likely to surpass last year’s record number of deaths by at least 15,000.