Two views: U.S. Covid death tolls undercounted, Covid is no longer a national emergency

COVID-19 deaths in the US continue to be undercounted, research shows, despite claims of 'overcounts' An accurate count of COVID-19 deaths is critical both scientifically and politically. Douglas Rissing/iStock via Getty Images PlusSince the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March 2020, a recurring topic of debate has been whether official COVID-19 death statistics in the U.S. accurately capture the fatalities associated with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Some politicians and a few public health practitioners have argued that COVID-19 deaths are overcounted. For instance, a January YahooNews

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In a newly released study that has not yet been peer-reviewed, our team found that during the first two years of the pandemic – from March 2020 to February 2022 – there were between 996,869 and 1,278,540 excess deaths in the U.S. Among these, 866,187 were recognized as COVID-19 on death certificates. This means that there were between 130,682 and 412,353 more excess deaths than COVID-19 deaths. The gap between excess deaths and COVID-19 deaths was large in both the first and second years of the pandemic. This suggests that COVID-19 deaths were undercounted even after the pandemic’s chaotic early months. ...

ALSO SEE: COVID-19 Is No Longer a Public Health Emergency --Time Magazine