Is the Official COVID-19 Death Toll Accurate?

[Geee]

Issues & Insights

Roughly two-thirds of U.S. residents don’t believe the CDC’s official tally for the number of COVID-19 deaths. This distrust, however, flows in opposing directions. A nationally representative survey conducted by Axios/Ipsos in late July 2020 found that 37% of adults think the real number of C-19 fatalities in the U.S. is lower than reported, while 31% think the true death toll is greater than reported.

The facts show that neither side has an airtight case, but the evidence is more consistent with the theory that fewer people have died from C-19 than the official figures indicate. Nevertheless, the extent of the possible overcount is unknown, and even if it were as high as 50,000, it would not make a marked difference in key measures of the pandemic’s severity. Hence, debates over the accuracy of the death toll distract from other issues with much greater implications.

Excess Deaths

The main argument of those who claim that the official C-19 death tally is an undercount is based on a factor called “excess deaths.” This is defined as the total number of deaths from all causes during the pandemic minus the number of deaths that would normally occur at this time of the year.

In the words of the Government Accountability Office, “Examining higher-than-expected deaths from all causes helps to address limitations in the reporting of COVID-19 deaths because the number of total deaths is likely more accurate than the numbers of deaths from specific causes.”

[Valin]

@Geee

Is the Official COVID-19 Death Toll Accurate?

That's a Good One! 

Sure they are. And Epstein Killed Himself, Benghazi was caused by a video, George W Bush caused the WTC's the implode, And Bill Clinton Never Had Sex With That Woman.