covid diary: day 175

 It's been a while since we checked in with the CDC. Hmm, I wonder what they're up to?

Oh, relaxing testing guidance on orders from the White House? Cool cool. That will definitely reduce our number of positive tests. Remember: If we do less testing, we have much lower cases! (Note: We do not have much lower cases. The president is a moron.)

But wait, there's more. Over the weekend, there were lots of headlines like this one: "New CDC report shows 94% of COVID-19 deaths in US had underlying medical conditions." And you'll never guess what followed: lots and lots and lots of people (including some in very high places) claiming that the "real" death count is only 6% of the 180,000+ people who have died of COVID-19. 

Which, to put it mildly, is complete bullshit.

Here's what the CDC actually said:

"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." 

You can see that it doesn't say that only 6% of the 180,000 died of COVID-19, right?  And if you actually read the chart (at the link above) and look at the "underlying conditions," a lot of them are caused by COVID-19. Respiratory failure. Cardiac arrest. Sepsis. Renal failure. 

They also list preexisting conditions, including hypertension and obesity. Mike has high blood pressure, but if he gets COVID-19 and dies, he will have died from COVID-19, not from high blood pressure. I am fat, but if I get COVID-19 and die, I will have died from COVID-19, not from being fat. It's absolutely ridiculous to say otherwise. 

And yet.

Look at this retweet from Trump (which has since been deleted, but guess what, the internet is forever): “This week the CDC quietly updated the Covid number to admit that only 6% of all the 153,504 deaths recorded actually died from Covid. That's 9,210 deaths The other 94% had 2-3 other serious illnesses & the overwhelming majority were of very advanced age.”

Bull. Shit. 

But don't take my word for it. How about asking the country's leading infectious disease expert? Take it away, Dr. Fauci:

"The point that the CDC was trying to make was that a certain percentage of people who died had nothing else but just COVID. That does not mean that someone who has hypertension or diabetes who dies of COVID didn't die of COVID-19. They did. So the numbers you've been hearing, the 180,000-plus deaths, are real deaths from COVID-19. Let there not be any confusion about that. It's not 9,000 deaths from COVID-19. It's 180,000-plus deaths." 

 Oh hey, and what do you know? This afternoon the CDC director sent an urgent letter to all governors asking them to expedite the process and clear any barriers to operation for vaccine distribution facilities (including waiving requirements, if necessary) so they are "fully operational by November 1."

November 1, you say? Surely it's a coincidence. SURELY this administration wouldn't be pushing through an untested, unproven vaccine just so they can make it public two days before Election Day. 

Oh wait. They totally would, and they totally are. Not just that, but the U.S. has also refused to sign on with 170+ other countries to develop a system to develop, make, and fairly distribute a vaccine. The administration says it's because they refuse to partner with the WHO, which is completely stupid and shortsighted. More than 170 countries (there are only 195 total, for the love of socks!) want to work together to make the world safer again. Trump just wants to have the credit. I bet if those 170 countries agreed to slap his name/branding on it, he would jump at the chance to join their vaccine project. 

This reminds me of that time when so many countries worked together with the WHO to create reliable test kits way back in March, and the U.S. rejected that partnership too. How did going it alone work out for us with that again?

We're in real trouble, friends. There are 62 more days until the election.