Households managing the Covid-19 pandemic relied heavily on broadband to work, learn, and secure necessary resources and information. Our new analysis finds that the internet may have been even more important in the pandemic than initially understood—for some, it was literally a matter of life and death. We find that, even after controlling for a host of other socioeconomic factors, a 1% increase in broadband access across the US reduced Covid mortality by approximately 19 deaths per 100,000, all things equal. The impact was even more stark in urban areas—in metro counties alone, a 1% increase in broadband access reduced Covid mortality by 36 deaths per 100,000, holding all else constant.