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The realistic case:
1) More people died of Covid in 2021 than in 2020. This is not progress. There is zero reason to presume 2022 will be better, other than rose colored glasses.
2) The of vs with foot stomping. Over 50% of men over age 80 have prostate cancer. It grows slowly and probably won’t kill the guy, but it is ONE HELL OF A COMORBIDITY. If a man has relentlessly declining blood oxygen readings and the prostate cancer is contained, it is absurd to declare that a death with rather than of. If you start that crap, you will corrupt vital data. Rational docs use the blood oxygen reading to declare cause of death, and the vast majority are rational.
3) Beware the media beginning happy talk. The Dems desperately need a declaration of VICTORY OVER THE VIRUS to win the midterms. There will be a seasonal death decline within a few weeks. Watch how it gets splashed.