If Coronavirus Threat’s So Great, Why’s U.S. Overall Death Rate Down? issuesinsights.com/2020/04/28/if-…
“Despite the panic over the Wuhan virus, it now appears that the overall U.S. death rate this winter season is at a multi-year low, no worse than 2014, 2016, and 2019, and far better than 2015, 2017, and 2018 (one of the worst flu seasons in years),” says blogger Robert Zimmerman
Let that sink in for a minute.
Centers for Disease Control data indicate the current average U.S. overall death rate, even amid the coronavirus pandemic, is actually lower than it has been for much of the past seven years and well below the long-term average.
Centers for Disease Control data indicate the current average U.S. overall death rate, even amid the coronavirus pandemic, is actually lower than it has been for much of the past seven years and well below the long-term average.
As of the first week of April, the last week for which there is solid data, the U.S. overall death rate including COVID-19 fatalities was about 14.9 deaths per 100,000. Since 2013, the U.S. average has been 16.4. During past flu epidemics, the rate got as high as 20.
So why are death rates falling while COVID-19 deaths continue to grow? It may be that many deaths that aren’t really COVID-19 related are counted as that anyway. The net effect is to exaggerate COVID-19 deaths, while underestimating others.
