Name:	PTClakefan -	Reply
Subject:	Interesting Covid-19 Data
Date:	7/8/2020 6:21:55 PM

Below is a paste of a link of a chart that is updated weekly by the CDC.  It tracks the number of Covid-19 deaths since the virus first arrived in the US through the week ending July 4th.  I have just included the link as the chart is fairly extensive.

In a nutshell, Covid-19 deaths have dropped significantly each week since the week ending April 18 when deaths peaked at 16,394 to last week when there were a total of 177 Covid-19 related deaths in the US, and despite the fact that positive cases have increased substantially during the same period.  That would seem to suggest a few reasons, such as: (1) the virus is becoming much less lethal; (2) treatment methods have improved significantly; (3) the most vunerable persons are being isolated much better; or (4) Covid-19 death related data from earlier weeks was grossly over reported.  There may be other reasons as well.

Another set of interesting data is the weekly percent of expected deaths from all causes.  Essentially, the CDC averaged the total numbers of deaths to be expected for a given week based on the average number from the same period during the years 2017-2019.  As one would expect, total deaths exceded the total number expected during the April-May period, but have actually fallen below 100% since early June.  In fact, during the week ending July 4, the total number of all deaths in the US (including Covid 19 deaths) was only 16% of the total number expected for that week based on the average of the prior 3 years! (and we know several of those were due to acute lead poisoning).

As Ricky said to Lucy" "someone has some splanin to do."

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	That is more than interesting..we've been scammed
Date:	7/9/2020 8:40:23 AM

I had not seen that but now I am beginning to understand.  The CDC has been tracking actual Wuhan virus deaths separate from deaths from influenza and pneumonia where someone may have also tested positive for the virus.  And it only totals 114,000 so it appears that we were right in believing that deaths from other causes are being lumped into the Wuhan virus category by some states.  Want to guess which ones were doing this early on and are likely no longer so they appear to be doing much better?

If these numbers are accurate then the actual mortality rate for the Wuhan virus is actually lower than the ordinary flu (influenza and pneumonia)....a lot lower given the expected number of cases.  No wonder the CDC said they were getting close to declaring the pandemic over....not that this will happen, at least not until November 4th at the earliest.  We have been utterly scammed.

Name:	PTClakefan -	Reply
Subject:	That is more than interesting..we've been scammed
Date:	7/9/2020 10:40:17 AM

I agree Martini, this data is mind-boggling to say the least.   I would have to quess that the key is the following definition of a "Covid-19 related death" used by the CDC in this chart, which is:  "Deaths with confirmed or presumed COVID-19, coded to ICD–10 code U07.1"  I suspect that several states were being very "presumptive" as to what constituted a Covid-19 related death and, for whatever reason, that diagnostic criteria has been tightened-up the last 5-6 weeks.  Perhaps this is due to the vastly increased availibility of testing which now makes it almost impossible to simply "presume" a death to be Covid-19 related.  Whatever the reason, these numbers deserve some serious attention by the media and government as to what exactly is going on here, because if this was financial data the sole conclusion would be that someone has been "cooking the books."

The other interesting aspect is the weekly death percentages from all causes data.  So, here we are in the middle of what is being called the worst pandemic since the 1917-1918 Spanish flu pandemic and for which we are getting close to bankrupting this country, and total deaths for the past 4 weeks from all causes (including Covid-19) are significantly below the averages from the previous 3 years for the same weekly periods!  However, I have not heard one elected official or media source mention this or even say, you know, perhaps we should take a step back and reassess the real medical impact of this virus,  Yet, nothing but crickets.  As the late, great coach Vince Lombardi once stated "What the hell is going on out there!"

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	That is more than interesting..we've been scammed
Date:	7/9/2020 10:54:36 AM

Not to mention the fact that the last two days we have seen an increase in deaths back to what they were in early June when the average number of new cases was in the ~20K per day range.  Suddenly the new cases are in the 50K to 60K range but deaths remain very low.  Time will tell as to whether we see an explosion in Wuhan virus deaths but looking at the hospitalizations and ICU (other than some isolated places like Houston) I suspect the death rate will not keep up.  Theoretically it should be more than double what it is given the number of new cases.  Something very strange is going on here and I am less and less inclined to believe any of the numbers, especially the improvement seen in states like NY and NJ, who still lead the pack in cases and deaths per million.

Name:	PTClakefan -	Reply
Subject:	That is more than interesting..we've been scammed
Date:	7/9/2020 11:07:26 AM

And where is the scrutiny that these numbers deserve?