evidence: CDC and the Washington Department of Public Health report the first death in an individual with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in the U.S. The patient was a male in his 50s who was hospitalized with a pneumonia of unknown cause and later died of his illness. [...] A study is published in Nature showing that even a mild case of COVID-19 appears to increase the risk of heart problems for one year after infection. The study’s authors suggest that COVID-19 might be as much of a risk factor for heart disease as high blood pressure, diabetes, or smoking. [...] For the second year in a row, COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in the U.S.– after heart disease and cancer.