{"id":11455,"date":"2021-05-06T11:35:06","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T10:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/?p=11455"},"modified":"2021-05-06T11:35:06","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T10:35:06","slug":"covid-19-a-deadly-deception","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/2021\/05\/06\/covid-19-a-deadly-deception\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid-19: A Deadly Deception"},"content":{"rendered":"

4,915<\/a><\/span>. And rising. This number can only increase or, at best, stay the same. It can never go down. Of all the innovations that governments and media around the world have come up with, seemingly independently of each other, during the ongoing Covid period perhaps the most insidious is the daily running total of deaths.<\/span><\/p>\n

I have often wondered what purpose this number serves. At a time when we are frequently told by the media and government to \u2018follow the science\u2019, what could be more unscientific than a figure which, even when nobody is dying, looms above us as a warning that danger is ever present and nothing has improved.<\/p>\n

But take the number of people who are unemployed, <\/a><\/span>a figure that has reached terrifying proportions without any sophistry or assistance from behavioural scientists. In fact, a lot of effort is expended on massaging this number downwards from the actual amount to levels more palatable for public consumption.<\/p>\n

But imagine that we calculated the number of unemployed by concocting a total of all those who have been laid off \u2013 jobs that have died<\/em> \u2013 at any time and for any duration, during the past thirteen months? Or since unemployment began, a running total of all the people who have been unemployed ever?<\/p>\n

What function would that number serve? Might it help prevent future unemployment? Might it better inform us of the skills and training required for our workforce? Might it be useful for analysis and reporting? As Frankie Howerd used to say, \u201cNay, nay, and thrice nay.\u201d I wager any civil servant who proposed such an idea would soon be on their way to early retirement, and be about as popular with politicians as a Garda on breathalyzer duty outside Leinster House.<\/p>\n

Yet that\u2019s exactly what we do with the running death total (and its near twin the running case total) for Covid. If the purpose of this number is to show where we currently stand amidst the ebbs and flows of the pandemic, then surely a monthly or a weekly total would do the job better. We could then, as we do with the unemployment figure, compare this month to last (or this week to last) and judge which way we\u2019re going. Are we moving steadily forwards? Are we tumbling hopelessly backwards? You get the idea.<\/p>\n

Why haven\u2019t we ever had a running total of deaths from cancer, heart attacks or diabetes? If we\u2019d started even a year ago, these numbers would be at impressive levels now. Cancer and diseases of the circulatory and respiratory systems certainly dwarf the Covid tally<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, Worldometer<\/span><\/a> hasn\u2019t tried to do something like this. To many of us, Worldometer is the central hub of running Covid death totals. Currently, it trumpets a formidable 593,148 deaths for the United States, a daunting 127,570 for the United Kingdom and, as mentioned at the start, a not inconsiderable 4,915 for Ireland.<\/p>\n

But what do these frightening numbers refer to? Well, they refer to the number of Covid-19 deaths. So what\u2019s all the fuss about? The fuss is over what constitutes a Covid-19 death. So what is meant, exactly, by a Covid-19 death? Here is where it starts to get a bit complicated.<\/p>\n

WHO Guidance<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

On April 16th<\/sup> 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued a document entitled \u201cInternational Guidelines for Certification and Classification (Coding) of Covid-19 as Cause of Death<\/span><\/a>\u201d<\/span>. This provided strict rules for registration of Covid-19 deaths, rules which were fundamentally different to those which were in place for the registration of deaths from other causes.<\/p>\n

Some doctors<\/a><\/span> expressed concern about what they felt would give a misleading picture of causes of mortality. These rules, they said, were unprecedented and would lead to the over-reporting of deaths from Covid-19 and the under-reporting of deaths from other causes. Their warnings went unheeded and, for the most part, unreported. There was no place for prudence and common sense amid the frenzy and hysteria of the early days of the pandemic.<\/p>\n