Puerto Rico’s Hurricane Maria Death Toll Could Exceed 4,000, New Study Estimates

In a New England Journal of Medicine study, CCDD researchers, Prof. Caroline Buckee, Nishant Kishore, Ayesha Mahmud, and Mathew Kiang, along with others from Harvard and Puerto Rico, found that residents of Puerto Rico died at a significantly higher rate during the three months after Hurricane Maria than they did in the previous year. The researchers conducted more than 3,000 household surveys and found that one third of deaths reported were attributed to delayed or prevented access to medical care. The study’s findings come in stark contrast to the previous government figure which estimated less than 100 post-hurricane deaths. Read coverage of the study in the New York Times.