Posted on 04/03/2020 12:48:41 PM PDT by Red Badger
Florida’s death count from COVID-19 likely stands significantly higher than the official number, indicating the disease is taking a more severe toll than thought, according to interviews with experts and information from local officials.
The number of dead in Florida stood at 144 Thursday, according to the Florida Department of Health.
But medical examiners in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, who represent the hardest-hit part of Florida, have flagged 59 additional deaths that may have resulted from the disease and for which they’re awaiting test results. Although a few of these may have been included in the Thursday evening death count, this figure represents a significant backlog that is certain to raise the total.
In addition, a lag of two or three days in reporting confirmed cases keeps the official number below the true one. And many deaths from the disease may not ever be recognized for what they are, experts say, because the victim might have appeared to die from some underlying condition, such as heart disease.
Horrific as the official numbers may be, they understate the disease’s real impact on Florida. Along with the shortage of test kits, the absence of an accurate death count makes it harder to track the disease’s assault, to see what areas have taken the hardest hit and to plan the most effective response.
“This could be an important problem in not getting the full picture,” said Natalie Dean, assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida, who has studied Ebola, Zika and other infectious diseases. “We use deaths to get a sense of the larger scale of the epidemic, and if we’re missing something, then we’re underestimating the size of the epidemic."
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
ping
What a bunch of crap
Still, 144 + 59 = 204. Still a relatively-small number, albeit they are real people who have died.
The writer is just guessing and projecting for the story.....’Likely” is the key word and that without evidence.
Frankly no state can actually be exact because this beast is on the move and it’s nasty... that much we certainly know. And we certainly know that by staying home your risk is pretty much zero.
Florida is going to have a problem. About 15% (2019 figures) of the population don’t have any medical coverage. Many of these folks will not go to a hospital. Some will die at home. Many will infect others because they can’t/won’t get medical treatment. However many will go because the law requires hospitals to treat anyone with potentially life threatening illness/injury irregardless of their ability to pay. In normal times this puts a strain on hospital budgets since they effectively have become the primary care for the uninsured. And while they are required to treat the uninsured there is no mechanism for reimbursement for their expenses. The current pandemic could push quite a few hospitals over the financial cliff. Among the tidal wave of bankruptcies I am expecting over the next 12-24 months are going to be a lot of hospitals down here.
No - what this REALLY means is that the doctors haven’t been following protocol to pump the death numbers up as is going on in most states - any death of a patient that even simply tests positive is suppose to be labeled as a COVID-19 death (even if the virus was NOT the cause of death).
I’m wondering how many of the dead and sick are from out of state, NY, NJ, CT,PA..................
Good point...
“death of a patient that even simply tests positive is suppose to be labeled as a COVID-19 death (even if the virus was NOT the cause of death).”
Which is probably far outnumbered by people who died from it and were never tested.
FAKE NEWS!!
Hopefully they are distinguishing between deaths FROM Covid, and deaths WITH Covid. Huge difference!!!
Say you’re 80, have congestive heart failure, diabetes, bad kidneys, and catch a cold and croak. Is that death due to the cold?
Well, the cold is a coronavirus, too.
NY is classifying everyone who dies WITH Covid-19 as FROM Covid-19. It’s causing the giant panic.
Hopefully they are distinguishing between deaths FROM Covid, and deaths WITH Covid. Huge difference!!!
Say you’re 80, have congestive heart failure, diabetes, bad kidneys, and catch a cold and croak. Is that death due to the cold?
Well, the cold is a coronavirus, too.
NY is classifying everyone who dies WITH Covid-19 as FROM Covid-19. It’s causing the giant panic.
MAY is not ARE
And it’s easy to check: Compare the historical death rate to, say, last week. Is it more, by the amount of Covid-19 deaths? Or the same?
I’ll bet it’s the same, or even less. But they’ll gaslight us anyway. Find an excuse why the death rate as have not skyrocketed.
And it’s easy to check: Compare the historical death rate to, say, last week. Is it more, by the amount of Covid-19 deaths? Or the same?
I’ll bet it’s the same, or even less. But they’ll gaslight us anyway. Find an excuse why the death rate as have not skyrocketed.
Trump addressed that at a press conference within the past few days. They’re still working out the details, but fedgov is going to reimburse hospitals for treating the uninsured. It will come out of funds that were appropriated in the last coronavirus bill.
“And it’s easy to check: Compare the historical death rate to, say, last week. Is it more, by the amount of Covid-19 deaths? Or the same?”
I bet it’s higher
In the third most populous state in the nation.
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