Town Crier “Briefs from the Region” (2) – 3/18/21
A report released by the Montana Department of Health and Human Services outlined causes of death in Montanans in 2020 when compared to 2015-2019. Since COVID-19 played such a huge factor in public health over the last year, the report focused on how it affected death and birth rates as well as drug-related poisonings and deaths. Montana’s mortality rate rose by 14 percent and the number of deaths exceeded the number of births last year. It also found that COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death—as of March 18, 1,398 Montanans have died from the virus. Chronic liver disease and other alcohol-related deaths also increased significantly in 2020.
