Visited some of SWMBO's extended family over the weekend. Got these three gems to illustrate how out of kilter the numbers probably are. All are from persons with first-hand knowledge.
1. Person was a double-lung transplant. Strict isolation protocols, both hospital and home. Recovering well, everyone being super-cautious about contact. Person was in better-than-expected health, improving at a rapid pace, and ahead of all expectations. Simply didn't wake up one morning. All indications pointed to a clot-related pulmonary or cardiac issue but the family decided to let him rest in peace and forego an autopsy. Hospital district was having none of it and went so far as threatening to take the family to court to force an autopsy. Family did not relent and hospital finally backed down. No autopsy, no postmortem testing. Imagine their surprise when they got the death certificate and Cause of Death was listed as COVID-19 complications. Family has hired an attorney to get some answers.
2. Elderly person in visitation-restricted Hospice care for multiple conditions including significant recent history of stroke and coronary events. Had another massive stroke and passed away within hours. Straightforward death declaration by local Justice of the Peace. No Autopsy. No pre- or postmortem COVID-19 testing. Received the death certificate and, sure enough, cause of death listed as COVID-19. Family is speaking with the State AG via an attorney about bringing up county health officials on charges for falsifying information on a death certificate.
3. Elderly person in assisted living. Developed respiratory issues and passed away within the week. Tested daily for COVID-19. Six tests total, all came back negative. Family physician says everything points to likely an old-fashioned case of the flu and the person was too old and frail to fight it. Listed cause of death? Yep, you guessed it. COVID-19. Family speaking with an attorney to figure out if they need to pursue a lawsuit.
Again, these are first-hand accounts from family members in direct contact with the families involved, not some he-said she-said third-hand "I heard it on Facebook" business. My nature is to have a healthy skepticism of news reports. Now? I straight up don't believe them. Sure, they might be reporting "official" numbers, but when there is a reasonably likelihood those numbers are a overt misrepresentation of fact then I have to presume everything based on them is an outright lie.
Brad