At the time of writing this article, the total number of recorded Coronavirus cases worldwide stands at 1,705,845 with a death rate of 103,233.
The question is do those numbers actually mean anything let’s take a look.
The World Economic Forum has stated “we could be vastly overestimating the death rate of COVID-19. Here’s why”
- A lack of adequate testing means many of those who have been infected with Coronavirus will not appear in official statistics.
- This suggests that many estimates for its mortality rate are much too high
- We need to build better systems for sharing and reporting data.
Once the number of infections is determined, this becomes the denominator in our public health calculation. The number of deaths is our numerator.
Currently only those ill enough to be admitted to hospital get tested and recorded.
Any testing regime that is based only in hospitals will vastly overestimate the virulence of an infection.
Recording of Deaths
Since the emergence of Covid-19 the list of notifiable diseases has been updated. This list – contains Smallpox (which has been extinct for many years) and conditions such as Anthrax, Brucellosis, Plague and Rabies (which most UK doctors will never see in their entire careers) this has now been amended to include Covid-19, but not flu. That means every positive case for Covid-19 must be notified, in a way that it just would not be for flu or most other infections.
In the current climate, anyone with a positive test for Covid-19 will certainly be known to clinical staff looking after them: if any of these patients die, staff will have to record the Covid-19 designation on the death certificate – contrary to usual practice for most infections of this kind.
There is a big difference between Covid-19 causing death, and Covid-19 being found in someone who died of other causes. Making Covid-19 notifiable might give the appearance of it causing increasing number of deaths, whether this is true or not. It might appear far more of a killer than flu, simply because of the way deaths are recorded.
Analysis
The ambiguity surrounding the recording of Covid-19 cases/deaths has not been challenged or investigated by our state broadcasters, who appear more intent on spreading 24/7 fear and panic than asking highly relevant questions.
We need to know:-
- Is recording of the death of a patient based on testing or presumption?
- Did they die OF Covid-19 or WITH it?
- How reliable are the test results?
- What is the margin of error for false positive/false negative rates?
It is reported that the mortality rate has not risen above the average for this time of year which raises serious questions around the lockdown -v- the herd immunity strategies.
It is my belief that the Imperial College’s apocalyptic report followed by the knee jerk reaction of politicians will when scrutinised be found to be a catastrophic error of judgement and once again we the people will have to pick up the tab for bad policy making decisions NOT the politicians.
The fall out and repercussions from the lockdown have yet to fully materialise but when they do we must ensure that heads roll!!.
Sources:
https://twitter.com/chrisbergPOVNOW/status/1247680994821509121
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/The-evidence-on-Covid-19-is-not-as-clear-as-we-think
I wrote my first article for Unity News Network on 30th December 2019, and I have been writing ever since – my library is now well in excess of 200 articles.
Alternative media is essential in these times of unprecedented censorship and mainstream bias, which has ramped up exponentially during the past 2 years. The overton window of “acceptable opinion” is growing every narrower.
Having a citizen’s log, cataloguing the twists and turns of life during these turbulent times is essential.
Thank you Unity News Network for allowing me a voice on your platform.
