- Dr. Leana Wen says the number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 may be greater than the number of people actually dying from the virus
- Experts say patients hospitalized with other illnesses may also test positive for COVID-19, but the virus may not have been a contributing factor to their death
- Wen says the counting can lead to imprecise reporting making people more anxious or skeptical about the true impact of the virus
- Research has been done to more accurately link severe illness due to COVID
- Obtaining accurate figures has important implications for forecasting hospital capacity and assessing the effectiveness of vaccines
Almost three years since the coronavirus pandemic took hold, CNN medical analyst and Washington Post columnist Dr. Leana Wen has admitted the medical community is ‘overcounting’ the number of ‘COVID deaths and hospitalizations.’
In an opinion piece entitled: ‘We are overcounting COVID deaths and hospitalizations. That’s a problem,’ Wen cites sources that claim that most ‘patients diagnosed with COVID are actually in the hospital for some other illness.’
Wen begins: ‘According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States is experiencing around 400 COVID deaths every day. At that rate, there would be nearly 150,000 deaths a year. But are these Americans dying from COVID or with COVID?’
Wen states: ‘Understanding this distinction is crucial to putting the continuing toll of the coronavirus into perspective. Determining how likely it is an infection will result in hospitalization or death helps people weigh their own risk.’