300K more U.S. deaths than usual in 2020 -CDC

All undergraduate students at the University of Michigan were ordered to stay in place on Tuesday and for the next 14 days, due to a surge in cases of COVID-19 on campus.

The emergency shelter-in-place order came from the Washtenaw County Health Department, which said the number of cases among University of Michigan students was increasing and represents more than 60% of local cases.

The school's president said in a letter that the order was meant to address social gatherings, which he said have been identified as the main cause of the recent spread of the virus on campus.

The order says students are required to remain in on-campus, near-campus or off-campus housing, but are permitted to leave only to attend class, pick up food, vote or volunteer as poll workers, attend religious services, or to get a COVID-19 test.

The order comes after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported earlier this month that COVID-19 cases rose 55% among 18 to 22-years-olds nationally from Aug. 2 to Sept. 5.

In a separate report released on Tuesday, the CDC said that nearly 300,000 more Americans died in 2020 than in a typical year, with two-thirds of the excess deaths due to COVID-19.

The new report, based on historical trends, did not provide specific explanations for the excess deaths but said it expects the deaths to include those related directly or indirectly to COVID-19.

The largest percentage increase in excess deaths was, surprisingly, among 25 to 44-year-olds .

The CDC report also showed disproportionate increases among certain racial and ethnic groups, with the largest average percentage increase in deaths in 2020 occurring among Hispanic people at more than 53%.

Deaths were about 33% above average among Black people and more than 36% above average for Asians. Deaths among White people were about 12% higher than usual.

The report comes with just two weeks to go before the Nov. 3 election. President Donald Trump has sought to downplay the coronavirus pandemic, as recently as Monday, when he said on a call with campaign staff that people are tired of hearing about the virus, and later criticized the media for covering the deadly pandemic.

TRUMP: "You turn on CNN, that's all they cover. COVID, COVID, pandemic, COVID, COVID, COVID, ho, uh, uh. You know why? They're trying to talk everybody out of voting. People aren't buying it CNN, you dumb bastards. They're not buying it."

The most recent Reuters tally shows that about 220,000 Americans have died from COVID-19.