NEW YORK - Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States has witnessed 300,000 more deaths than usual, according to a new government report.

Citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the report showed that from February to September, deaths reported in the United States usually would be about 1.9 million, while this year, the number is close to 2.2 million, up by 14.5 percent.

CDC officials said that the coronavirus was involved in about "two-thirds of the excess deaths," and it is likely that the virus has been a factor leading to many other deaths too.

"For example, someone with heart attack symptoms may have hesitated to go to a hospital that was busy with coronavirus patients," they said.

A total of 95,000 excess deaths were among the elderly people aged from 75 to 84, a 21.5 percent increase compared with the number in a normal year, but the biggest relative increase, 26.5 percent, was in people aged from 25 to 44.