NATIONWIDE — The number of coronavirus-related deaths in the United States is significantly higher than previously believed, already surpassing the 200,000 threshold, according to a New York Times analysis.

Using estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the newspaper found that at least 200,000 more people than usual have died since March. The nation’s official coronavirus death toll as of Thursday stood at more than 166,000.

The Times found that the unusual patterns of death from all causes have followed the trends of spiking coronavirus cases around the country, suggesting the official death tally could be underestimating the overall effects of the virus, as people die from both COVID-19 and other causes linked to the pandemic.

Public health experts previously told the Times that the additional deaths from other other causes might be misdiagnoses or indirectly linked to the virus.  

In the early months of the outbreak, New York and New Jersey -- then the epicenter of the pandemic — saw surges of “excess deaths.” But excess deaths later expanded to the same regions that became new coronavirus hot spots, the South and West.

There have been more than 5.2 million cases of the coronavirus in the United States. On Wednesday, the U.S. reported 1,478 deaths from COVID-19 — its highest number this month, according to New York Times data.

Worldwide, there have been more than 20.7 million cases and 751,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Research Center.