Originally Posted by DaveRS23

Close to 80k dead you say? What is the source of that number?

Truth is, we have no idea how many people have died from this virus. And when it comes to confusing information, here is the best reason to doubt the numbers being thrown around. This is Illinois' Director of Public Health on how Illinois classifies Coronavirus deaths. And remember that all the statistics that you see from the CDC, etc comes from the states themselves.

If you don't listen to this official response from Director Ezike, you don't really care about the truth because this is how the data on this virus is tabulated here in Illinois.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEDjjl41xHU


That video is from April 23rd. I get why they played fast and lose with the criteria for counting Covid deaths - at the time the testing wasn't available so they errored on the side of caution. I'm curious if they're still using the same protocols for counting deaths now as I can get tested by driving through my local CVS. That and the fact the hospitals are now out of danger and we have breathing room to try and get accurate numbers.

This is going to sound cold, but total death counts are meaningless in crafting policy anyways. They're best used for emotional appeals. People need to come to grip with the fact that we can not quarantine long enough for this virus to go away. Civilization will collapse long before that point. The only thing that is going to burn it out is when it runs out of viable hosts through herd immunity by either natural anti-body production from previous infection or a vaccine. The area under the infection curve is NOT going to change in any meaningful way. The goal was always to draw it out to the point the peak doesn't poke above the total available resources to treat patients. Drawing this out any further will only serve to destroy the economy to no benefit - a vaccine is simply too far away.

The numbers to keep tabs on are hospitalization rates and available beds and vents. Overwhelm that and the death rate spikes. The best way forward right now is incremental reopening while monitoring hospitalization rate closely while at the same time letting high risk groups to continue to quarantine.


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