According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, more than 1 million excess deaths — that is, deaths in excess of the historical average — have been recorded since the COVID pandemic began two years ago, and this cannot be explained by COVID.

Deaths from heart disease, high blood pressure, dementia and many other illnesses rose during that time. “We’ve never seen anything like it,” Robert Anderson, CDC’s head of mortality statistics, told The Washington Post in mid-February.

According to University of Warwick researchers, “the scale of excess non-COVID deaths is large enough for it to be seen as its own pandemic.”

A number of explanations have been offered, including the fact that lockdowns and other COVID restrictions discouraged or prevented people from seeking care. But another, less discussed factor may also be at play.