I saw a bunch of headlines from a few days ago that framed the current daily American COVID-19 death rate as "1 death per x second", which I found fundamentally pretty scary- yesterday (10/31) there were 960 deaths, which means 86k seconds in a day/960 deaths = 1 death every ~90 seconds yesterday (and probably today too). By the time you finish reading, another American is probably dead.
What frustrates me most about this whole event is that covid 19 deaths can never accurate, per CDC guidance.
“In cases where a definite diagnosis of COVID–19 cannot be made, but it is suspected or likely (e.g., the circumstances are compelling within a reasonable degree of certainty), it is acceptable to report COVID–19 on a death certificate as “probable” or “presumed.” In these instances, certifiers should use their best clinical judgement in determining if a COVID–19 infection was likely. However, please note that testing for COVID–19 should be conducted whenever possible.” [0]
What this means to me is that the number of CV19 deaths - while tragic - can easily be exacerbated into a political weapon while distracting us from other issues.
I wish everyone would just wear a mask. A jacket doesn’t prevent you from freezing, but every little bit helps.
2 comments
[ 0.27 ms ] story [ 19.3 ms ] threadInspired by https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article...
Data from https://covidtracking.com/
“In cases where a definite diagnosis of COVID–19 cannot be made, but it is suspected or likely (e.g., the circumstances are compelling within a reasonable degree of certainty), it is acceptable to report COVID–19 on a death certificate as “probable” or “presumed.” In these instances, certifiers should use their best clinical judgement in determining if a COVID–19 infection was likely. However, please note that testing for COVID–19 should be conducted whenever possible.” [0]
What this means to me is that the number of CV19 deaths - while tragic - can easily be exacerbated into a political weapon while distracting us from other issues.
I wish everyone would just wear a mask. A jacket doesn’t prevent you from freezing, but every little bit helps.
[0] https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvss/vsrg/vsrg03-508.pdf