More Dying of COVID-19 In the U.S. Than We Know

[applegrove]

More Dying of COVID-19 In the U.S. Than We Know

March 25, 2020 at 10:16 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 200 Comments

https://politicalwire.com/2020/03/25/more-dying-of-covid-19-in-the-u-s-than-we-know/

"SNIP.......

“Medical professionals around the US told BuzzFeed News that the official numbers of people who have died of COVID-19 are not consistent with the number of deaths they’re seeing on the front lines.”

“In some cases, it’s a lag in reporting, caused by delays and possible breakdowns in logging positive tests and making them public.”

.....SNIP"

[cynatnite]

1. I've been telling everyone I know that multiplying the numbers by 10...

is likely to be far more accurate.

If you think it's bad, it's really 10x worse.

[procon]

2. Maybe some cities or even states are under reporting

their death counts because the real numbers will make th the leaders look bad. Better to lie and cover up than be seen as a rank incompetent whose poor decisions killed people who might have lived if proper protocols had been followed.

I suspect that greed and money is behind everything. Politicians cater to their big donors who only care about profits so they don't want cities shutdown as they would have no customers spending money in their businesses.

[greenjar_01]

5. How would they be doing that?

Help me understand the process whereby a "political leader" has hospitals or medical examiners "under-report" a cause of death in order to preserve their image. Show me how that works.

[procon]

10. Usually it's a state official or agency, like the governor

or the health dept that provides the stats, not each and every hospital. Just as Trump lies and falsifies facts and figures to puff up his image, and no one disputes him, so can a state governor. Trump keeps his agency heads in line, and a governor would use his power the same way.

Under reporting can happen during a crisis, remember Puerto Rico's ridiculously low body count after the hurricane?

[Bev54]

3. Yes I see what you are saying

Sweden has 6 deaths per 1,000 population and the US has 3 deaths per 1,000 population, if we can believe the numbers. I live in Canada and we have 1 death per 1,000.

[applegrove]

4. It was anecdotal that some people were not tested and died so they were not counted. Things

like that.

[greenjar_01]

7. So, in the middle of a COVID-19 pandemic

A patient presents with COVID-19 symptoms, then goes into acute respiratory failure and passes away. And the doctors on the scene write...what? Acute respiratory failure owing to nothing in particular? I really am curious about how that would work.

[applegrove]

8. They will have to go back and revise numbers. They are too busy now. nt

[greenjar_01]

9. I mean, maybe

I think whoever writes up the cause of death on the spot lists COVID-19. Maybe the tally gets adjusted, but I don't think people are fudging those.

[Celerity]

6. We (Sweden) are not a good example to use, as we also are insanely refusing to shut down

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213175937

[Crunchy Frog]

11. They're going to try to cover up.

They won't even be able to test all the dying, but they should be able to diagnose on the basis of CT scans as well.

Watch for lots of deaths from "pneumonia" or "atypical pneumonia", or dramatic increases in obituaries.

[uponit7771]

12. +1

[misanthrope]

14. yep

it will take some a dedicated forensics team who want to flush out the truth going through mountains of medical files after this all blows over. I don't know that they would ever be able to get access or how HIPAA regulations might apply to such a thing after people die.

[misanthrope]

13. I don't doubt it but

if the victims are never tested for it, then it can't be proven.

[Azathoth]

15. Likely a combination of things

Many people likely will die before they have been tested (or received their results), so they won't be counted initially.

Then there's the question of how to determine if coronavirus is the cause of death. Elderly man comes in, is given supplemental oxygen, seems to be doing ok, then suddenly has a heart attack and dies. Was it the coronavirus that killed him? Italy has been reporting every covid-positive patient who dies as a coronavirus casualty, but who knows if we're doing the same (and being consistent about it everywhere).

And finally, of course, it's possible that we're deliberately publishing inaccurate numbers.

[BComplex]

16. NO! It's the CDC being OWNED by the trump administration.

They have been hogtied and muffled.