The True Coronavirus Toll in the U.S. Has Already Surpassed 200,000

[ancianita]

Source: New York Times

Across the United States, at least 200,000 more people have died than usual since March, according to a New York Times analysis of estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is about 60,000 higher than the number of deaths that have been directly linked to the coronavirus.

As the pandemic has moved south and west from its epicenter in New York City, so have the unusual patterns in deaths from all causes. That suggests that the official death counts may be substantially underestimating the overall effects of the virus, as people die from the virus as well as by other causes linked to the pandemic.

When the coronavirus took hold in the United States in March, the bulk of deaths above normal levels, or “excess deaths,” were in the Northeast, as New York and New Jersey saw huge surges.

Counting deaths takes time and many states are weeks or months behind in reporting. The estimates from the C.D.C. are adjusted based on how mortality data has lagged in previous years. Even with this adjustment, it’s possible there could be an underestimate of the complete death toll if increased mortality is causing states to lag more than they have in the past or if states have changed their reporting systems.



Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/08/12/us/covid-deaths-us.html?searchResultPosition=1

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Among the five charts shown.

[Squinch]

1. And nothing is stopping it so that will go much higher.

[ancianita]

2. By "it" I assume that you mean the higher than normal death count.

[Squinch]

3. I mean Covid. And all that goes with it. Including the higher than normal death count.

[rickyhall]

4. Donald Trump: Mass Murderer, Worst Criminal in US History

Are you happy now, Motherfucker?

[rwsanders]

5. I like this way of looking at the numbers because it completely destroys the nonsensical arguments

that "anything that can't be identified" or "even car crashes if they are positive" are being listed as coronavirus

[ancianita]

6. Indeed. It's been getting traction months, and is the first time that NYT's given it amplification.

A lot of people I know still buy into the Republican argument that Democrats are trying to label all deaths as COVID. It's the same argument they used to suppress death numbers from HIV and AIDS.

Remembering those days, I'm pretty sure that NYT wouldn't have bought into it if there weren't proper mortality documentation at local levels.