The Official Estimates of COVID-19 Deaths Are Way Too Low

By KEN TERRY While President Trump mulls whether to reopen the country again in May, and as Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade suggests that “only” 60,000 people will die from the coronavirus, there are some warning signs that the White House COVID-19 Task Force’s prediction of 100,000-240,000 deaths may be way too low. That isn’t surprising, considering that Administration officials said this projection depended on us doing everything right. Of course, it appears that large sections of the country have done many things wrong—whether it’s Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ reluctance to close houses of worship or the refusal of several state governors to issue stay at home orders. That doesn’t include Trump’s own refusal to admit the seriousness of the COVID-19 outbreak until mid-March and the continuing failure of the federal government to ensure an adequate supply of test kits, PPE and ventilators. So here’s what all of this may be leading up to: a minimum of 600,000 COVID-related deaths in the U.S. over the next two years. Three different lines of research all lead to this conclusion. This research includes expert projections of the likely number of infections, hospitalizations and ICU cases; a recent report on the potential cost of the pandemic to private health insurers; and a roundup of the latest studies on the mortality rate from COVID-19. Let’s start with the expert estimates. Harvard epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch estimates tha...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: COVID-19 Health Policy COVID-19 deaths Ken Terry Pandemic Trump Source Type: blogs