U.S. COVID-19 Deaths: The Weekend-Effect 'Mystery'

Abstract

In this paper, we examine U.S. COVID-19 deaths by day of the week. Using data from the two large US. States (Florida and Texas) that report deaths by “day of actual death,” and controlling for time trends, we show that deaths during the Monday to Friday period (the week) are 7-8 percent higher than the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) in these states. The weekend effect does not obtain in New York City, which also reports deaths by “day of actual death.” We provide some preliminary thoughts as to why this “weekend” effect obtains for COVID-19 deaths in Florida and Texas, but not in New York City.