Is the New York Times trying to inflate the number of COVID-19 deaths?

American Thinker ^ | 04/06/2020 | Andrea Widburg

[SeekAndFind]

For those who read the New York Times, the Sunday edition was a scary one. A headline blared, “Official Counts Understate the U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll.” The subheading was even more disquieting (and ungrammatical): “Inconsistent protocols, limited resources and a patchwork of decision-making has [sic] led to an undercounting of people with the coronavirus who have died, health experts say.” Ah, those experts. What would we do without them?

The article opens, as all Times articles are wont to do, with anecdotes. Once upon a time, the Times included those anecdotes to create “hooks” that made facts more compelling. Somewhere along the line, though, Times´ writers made the mistake of believing that the plural of anecdotes is data.

That’s why Sunday's article opens with three anecdotes about unnamed people – a coroner, a funeral director, and some paramedics – all of whom think people they saw might have died of COVID-19. However, they don’t know, so they’re marking those deaths down as not from COVID-19.

With the anecdotes in place, the writers are ready to terrify their audience:

Across the United States, even as coronavirus deaths are being recorded in terrifying numbers — many hundreds each day — the true death toll is likely much higher.

With the anecdotes in place, the Times moves on to the experts. Er, sorry. The expert, singular. We hear from Jennifer Nuzzo, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, who “definitely think[s]” there’s under-reporting.

We also learn that the CDC has issued new guidelines to help with uniformity, saying the deaths should be identified as COVID-19 if the person tested positive or if “the circumstances are compelling within a reasonable degree of certainty.”

[SeekAndFind]

Across the United States, even as coronavirus deaths are being recorded in terrifying numbers — many hundreds each day — the true death toll is likely much higher.

With the anecdotes in place, the Times moves on to the experts. Er, sorry. The expert, singular. We hear from Jennifer Nuzzo, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, who “definitely think[s]” there’s under-reporting.

We also learn that the CDC has issued new guidelines to help with uniformity, saying the deaths should be identified as COVID-19 if the person tested positive or if “the circumstances are compelling within a reasonable degree of certainty.” (You can read the new guidelines here -- and then contemplate the fact that they, too, will undoubtedly result in inflated numbers.) The article then assures us that it’s helpful to have good numbers (duh!).

[an amused spectator]

Is the New York Times trying to inflate the number of COVID-19 deaths?

Yes.

[JPJones]

Duh.

[z3n]

If the NYT turned all their anecdotes into antidotes they’d have enough to provide NY a real public service.

[bray]

Does the sun rise in the east?

[House Atreides]

A coroner, a funeral director, and a paramedic go into a bar ......

[SmokingJoe]

Is the New York Times trying to inflate the number of COVID-19 deaths?

Is water wet?
Is there tea in China?
Of course they are.
It's all about creating as much panic and hysteria as they can.

[SmokingJoe]

Across the United States, even as coronavirus deaths are being recorded in terrifying numbers — many hundreds each day — the true death toll is likely much higher.

Is that why the overall dead so far this year is less than for the same period last year?

[urtax$@work]

Now, I want to know both sides of the stats..

How many NYs typically die monthly (no exceptions) 200? - 2019 Jan - April VS How many have died monthly Jan - April 2020

http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/6551as_2010_final_population_&_mortality.pdf

Sooner or later, there will be stats that should show a rise in no. of deaths for 2020.

[conservative98]

More on Jennifer Nuzzo...

The US coronavirus travel ban could backfire. Here's how

By Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN

Updated 7:37 AM ET, Fri February 7, 2020

It's been days since the US restrictions went into effect, blocking foreign nationals who've visited China in the past two weeks from coming to the US. Details about the US travel ban's impact are still emerging. But some are already urging the US to reconsider.

"All of the evidence we have indicates that travel restrictions and quarantines directed at individual countries are unlikely to keep the virus out of our borders," Jennifer Nuzzo, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week. "These measures may exacerbate the epidemic's social and economic tolls. And can make us less safe."

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/07/health/coronavirus-travel-ban/index.html

Jennifer Nuzzo, liar and propagandist

[politicianslie]

Is the DNC (and their bots, the NY SLIMES) trying to inflate the COVID-19 deaths? ANSWER: YES

Are the DNC insiders working inside the Trump organization?

Fauci is doing everything he can to shutdown the Trump miracle drug combination. The Democrats thought again they had Trump, but the world is coming down around their ears.

YOUTUBE Trump's Miracle Drug appears to be the real deal

Get ready to go back to work.

[chopperk]

THE LIB PAPERS ALONG WITH GATES, SOROS, BUFFETT AND OTHER NEW WORLD ORDER/ONE WORLD GOV’T PROPONENTS ARE GOING TO PUSH TO UNDERCUT PRESIDENT TRUMP ANY WAY THEY CAN. DR. FAUCI IS WORKING TO BRING THE INTERESTS OF BIG PHARMA TO GENERATE CASH TO PROMOTE THE SAME ISSUES.

[RJS1950]

I’d be interested to know if Faux-ci and Birx have ties to the Soros groups and other “resistance” groups.

[euram]

I’m sure the NYT is busy counting every death since mid-January as a virus-related death.

[ThunderSleeps]

All part of the ongoing FUD campaign. Every time they release some new unsubstantiated prediction and it fails to ding President Trump enough, they have to up the ante.

Dire, but unsubstantiated claims of death rates over 25%.

Prediction of months-long quarantine. (they might actually be making this one come true)

The very young and very old are at risk...

Oh, that didn't scare enough people into compliance? 20 to 40 year olds are at risk too!

We don't have enough masks!

A malaria drug might work? You can't use it, it's not FDA approved for this! My Uncle's, cousin's brother's room-mate knew a guy who might have gotten sicker on it!!!

We don't have enough ventilators!

Oh, we have ventilators going unused? ... Ventilators may not be enough!

Are you getting it yet? This is a classic use of FUD. Every time even a glimmer of good news comes out, something else is used to smash it and induce an emotional response towards compliance. I'm fed up with it, 'eff 'em. It's a bad flu season, with a slightly more dangerous strain of flu. Restore our freedoms, or we'll start taking them back.

[Freee-dame]

If it turns out that there is a strong correlation between obesity with the many underlying health problems that go with it and C-virus deaths of younger people, will the US media ever mention it? I wonder if scientists are even keeping data on obesity as an underlying health issue.

The USA is the most obese country advanced country in the world. 36% of the population of the USA is rated obese.

[ThunderSleeps]

I read one thing (sometime yesterday) that mentioned a correlation between BMI (30+) and diabetic or pre-diabetic issues. I believe it said people with those pre-existing conditions were more likely to end up in ICU on ventilators, and obviously more likely to pass away as a direct result of the virus and/or complications from the virus.

[hattend]

If you believe what is in the papers, it seems like everybody is dying of corona virus nowadays.