The number of Covid 19 related deaths in the United Sates could be higher by 28 per cent than what the official figures show, according to a new research.
As per official figures, about 2.7 million confirmed corona cases are there in the US and more than 129,000 people have died of the virus. In the two weeks alone, the country had reported almost half a million new infections. The states that allowed its bars to reopen are now closing them again, fearing a second corona wave.
However, a new study by US academics states that the death figures could be 28 per cent higher than the official reports. They made the observation based on their analysis of the total number of deaths from March 1 to May 30. They said that about 781,000 fatalities happened across the country during the three months. Official figures reported 95,235 deaths attributed to the virus during this period. However, the researchers said that most of the other deaths (around 27,000) were most likely related to or directly caused by the coronavirus.
The study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine. It said that many of the early nursing home deaths or those attributed to pneumonia and not because of Covid 19 may have contributed to an undercount.
Lead author Daniel Weinberger of the Yale School of Public Health, pointed out that determining the cause of death on a death certificate was not an exact science. There are chances that someone had COVID-19 and that triggered pneumonia. This pneumonia was then listed as the cause of death.
The researchers also noted efforts to track the severity and public health impact of COVID-19 in the US have been hampered by state level differences in diagnostic test availability.
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