For the love of all that is good in this world, can people STOP trying to dig and twist and find new ways to try and undermine the severity of this pandemic??
And for those of you who are innocent and just trying to understand what the hell is going on, I am here for you ❤.
Remember when people freaked out because they thought the CDC had changed their stance on the impact of surface spread of COVID when NOTHING HAD CHANGED regarding their recommendations?
Well here is yet another example of people taking "new" data posted by the CDC as some "shocking" development when the "nothing has changed train" is still running strong. And mainstream media's sensationalized and misleading headlines are not helping things one bit and are DIRECTLY contributing to wide-spread confusion and dissemination of misinformation.
The CDC recently released an update regarding geographic and demographic characteristics of those who died of COVID-19. But there is one part of this update that has captured the eyes of both the innocent as well as the hoax, conspiracy and "it's just the flu!" crowd, who desperately are grasping at straws to find another way to discredit concerns towards and minimize the impact of COVID.
Hello, CDC Excerpt:
Comorbidities
Table 3 shows the types of health conditions and contributing causes mentioned in conjunction with deaths involving coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned. For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death. The number of deaths with each condition or cause is shown for all deaths and by age groups.
A reminder: provisional death counts are based on death certificate data received and coded by the National Center for Health Statistics. Because it takes time to go through all the death certificates, the provisional death count will lag behind the actual death count.
In this latest update, the CDC was attempting to illustrate how coexisting diseases may impact and contribute to a patient's death when COVID is a cause of death. The 6% figure does NOT mean COVID only contributed to 6% of the deaths; it was only listed as the SOLE cause of death in 6% of the death certificates listing COVID as a cause of death. COVID still contributed to 100% of the deaths due to COVID because, well, uh, they are deaths due to COVID 🤷🏽♂️.
This reminds me of The Onion headline, "World Death Rate Holding Steady at 100%". So. Genius. And so duh.
In all other cases, COVID-19 was listed as a cause of death along with an average of 2.6 other conditions, which were all listed on the death certificate as either the immediate cause of death or contributed to the immediate cause of death.
In other words, there can be MULTIPLE causes of death listed on a death certificate and they ALL count.
There is NOTHING shocking about this. Absolutely nothing. So why does this continue to be a thing?
Those with co-morbidities - underlying, chronic conditions - were ALWAYS the ones most susceptible to dying if they were infected with COVID-19. NOTHING HAS CHANGED.
The more vulnerable are, uhh, more vulnerable than the, uhh, less vulnerable.
It seems I need to copy the EXACT same examples I used in a prior post and attempt once again to clarify what is meant by cause of death
Q: Why do people die from HIV/AIDS? A: They die due to opportunistic infections as a result of the immunodeficiency triggered by HIV. But we still attribute the death to HIV/AIDS.
Q: Why do people die of a gunshot wound? A: They die due to significant organ damage and/or massive internal bleeding caused by the piercing bullet. But we still attribute the death to a gunshot wound.
Q: Why do people die from COVID-19? A: They die because a person with preexisting conditions (or not) suddenly underwent an immense amount of immunologic stress with subsequent multi-organ damage and failure triggered by COVID-19. But we still attribute the death to COVID-19.
In medicine, death is defined as irreversible cessation of heart, lung, and/or brain function. If something contributed to any of those three organ systems failing, either directly or indirectly, it is a cause of death.
End of discussion. This is how COVID deaths are counted in this country and in many other countries. Because it makes sense.
If you need further proof what I am saying is true, look at how cause of death is ACTUALLY FILLED OUT on a death certificate:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/hb_cod.pdf - see item 32, page 40
The "chain of events" - defined as diseases, injuries, or complications - that directly caused the death of the patients are ALL listed as CAUSES OF DEATH.
This is LITERALLY from the CDC site itself.
The fact is, COVID has contributed to 160k+ provisional deaths and counting - with actual deaths likely closer to the 180k mark. Please come to grips with this reality if you have not.
And for those who still think fraud is being committed nationwide by hospitals in some massive money-making scheme by listing COVID as a cause of death when it is not, well
I still just can't 🤦🏽♂️.
Also remember: these statistics do NOT include all those who contracted COVID and may suffer life-long disability related to it. Or those whose care for other conditions were impacted as a result of COVID and subsequent shutdowns.
Unfortunately, we will likely not realize the true impact COVID has had on our society for many, many years. But it will be bad.
And if that is not a sobering thought, I do not know what is.