Where in the world are the numbers?
From 2003 to 2020, procedures for reporting the cause of death in the U.S. had been used without the need for updates. The procedures were outlined in two handbooks, one for physicians and a second one for medical examiners and coroners. These procedures, developed in 2003, were used by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and all state and local public health officials.
However, a change to the procedures proposed by the CDC on March 24, 2020 (early in the American lockdown) took effect without the customary approval of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Clearly, this was a violation of Federal Register guidelines.
Why were these changes in tallying the cause of death numbers so critical? According to a peer-reviewed study—published in the Journal of Science, Public Health Policy, and Law—the change in the collection of data resulted in a dramatic skewing of the numbers.
If the previous system which had been used for seven years had been used to count the deaths caused by COVID-19, the count would have been 9,684. Based on the new data collected by the now 2020 system proposed by CDC, the count was inflated to 161,392. Remarkable differences!
What were the major changes made by the CDC? The changes are not major, with one significant difference. When collecting data for “COVID-19-related deaths,” physicians and public health officials were asked to cite not only confirmed COVID cases but also all others that could have been “suspected.” Under the new 2020 guidelines, all “contributing conditions” or “comorbidities” could be counted as COVID deaths.
In other words, any conditions such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, or any other lung disease, such as pneumonia, could be lumped into the numbers attributed to COVID-related deaths. And voila, the numbers justified the labeling of a pandemic!
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