Despite the pandemic, 2020 US death rate increase is lowest in 5 years
 

Year to date, the death rate in the US is 8.880/1,000. That is an increase over the 8.782/1,000 rate from 2019. However the increase is the smallest year to year increase in the last five years. With so many deaths being attributed to the Coronavirus, why wasn’t there an uptick in the death rate in 2020? A logical answer would be that the vast majority of Covid coded deaths were with Covid, not from Covid and many of those people would have died even if they had not contracted the virus.

Fewer people going to work = fewer work-related deaths.
Fewer people travelling for leisure = fewer people dying while on vacation.
Fewer people leaving their homes to drive on their daily routines = fewer people in car accidents resulting in death.
Fewer people leaving their houses at all = fewer gang-related drive-by shootings.
It also means fewer criminals breaking into homes, since they don't know if death is on the other side of the door.

People are afraid to live their normal lives, and other people are cautiously living a life adjusted to reduce the risk of catching a deadly illness. It means there are fewer people out and about, moving targets for death.

Automobile accident deaths are down, but suicides are up, drug related deaths are up people who died who were unable to have necessary surgery & people died who were unable to be diagnosed are all up. And murders are actually up in 2020.

Then.......... there should be an increase of deaths at home vs normal at home death rate

An increase in deaths 5 miles or less from home?

There are only so many slices in the pie no matter how one cuts it.

Exactly, the cause of death can be manipulated, but dead is dead. The Coronavirus has been compared to the Spanish Flu, but the death rate in the US increased by 31% the first year the Spanish Flu effected the US. Yet in 2020 there hasn’t been an uptick in deaths despite this pandemic...

We are not finished yet!

Yep, that COVID is all just a hoax , as some are led to believe.

With.
From.
The operative word is Because.

I think you make a good point. I think a breakdown of the change in the way deaths occurred year over year would be useful as hospitals weren’t overburdened last year as they are this.

IMO it’s not hoax, but not as deadly as some are lead to believe. If so, there would be millions dead and billion infected already. Any virus will be deadly serious on weak, old, and even low % to young healthy. So, anybody with brain will take precautions.

The virus has turned into war for votes. Just like Russian as China get out of jail free card. Funny how we never heard anything about China trying to change our country political process.

I recommend China in focus on utube to get idea what’s going on in world today which most National media Somehow fail to report.

That’s based on the number of cases that are coded as Coronavirus deaths in the US. The more you code as Covid, the higher the percentage. But if all those deaths were caused by the virus, then we would have seen a spike in the US death rate in 2020. Based on the numbers you provided in the link, we would have seen an increase of more than 20%. But we didn’t.

No, not because. If those people died “because” of the virus, the death rate would have spiked up in 2020. There was actually a lower percentage increase than in the prior 5 years.

Covid is not a hoax, Covid is very real, it is also really overblown...

Tell that to the loved ones of those that have died because it, or the tens of thousands still suffering the after effects after surviving it.
There is nothing overblown with the virus, only the more sensational ways of reporting it in some of the media.

A few things to consider...1) There is a lag in reported deaths that can take several weeks to catch up and 2) It is always good to look at more than one source. Here is a recent report in Forbes magazine which shows a different take. The source of the graph is JAMA.

How Excess Mortality In 2020 Compares [Infographic]

Finally, here is a graphic approach to explaining why masks are important.

So, the moral of the story is to wear pants and you won't catch the virus, right? :1rotfl: :1rotfl:

How about this:
A naked man approaches you with the intention of peeing on you.
You are armed with a gun and pull it out.
That's better protection than a pair of pants, but a pair of pants may keep you from getting splashed on if he has gotten too close and pees because you scared the pee out of him.

Protect yourself and let everyone else worry about protecting themselves. :MOJE_whot: :MOJE_whot:

That is the weakest possible response. 650,000 people in the US die from heart disease every year. Is that on the news 24/7? Where is the outrage? There has been no appreciable increase in deaths in the US during this pandemic. So yes, it is overblown. It has received a disproportionate amount of media coverage and fear mongering.

If something can be used politically it will be and this is no exception, finding stats to support any position is done all the time , so called "news" reporting is a challenge in critical thinking and researching what was said, just believe what ever "facts" suites your closest held beliefs

....and a big dose of mass hysteria...:shocked:

I don't understand why some people have a need to try to convince all of us that Covid is nothing to worry about.

The second post in this thread is definately worth reading. A few weeks ago I tried to do some research on my own to see if I could tell just how deadly the virus was. In other words, just how many deaths above and beyond normal have we had. It is much too complicated for me to come up with the answer - partly because of the items called out in post #2.

It is a two way street there Marathon Man. Just as many trying to convince others that it is something to worry about. In today’s order on line economy, there is no need for you to leave your house. You can get most anything delivered right to your door, including a new car! The science has been all over the place in this from the beginning. had their message been consistent from the beginning it might be a different story. Perhaps, if we face this again, we will be better equipped.

In the next few years there will be an uptick in deaths, not related to Covid, but to cancer. Many people are not going to the doctor, and screenings are at an all time low. Not to mention the amount of cardiac issues that will go undetected

The very numbers that I cited in my OP came from the same link that was listed in post #2. It provides you the death rate per 1,000 per year. Each of the last 5 years there has been a nominal increase in the death rate. The increase from 2019 to 2020 was less than the increase in any of the prior 5 years. Where are the 220,000 Covid deaths? If Covid killed 220,000 Americans, there would have been a surge in the numbers not a decline. Basically, percentage wise, there was no increase in the death rate. So although 220,000 people were listed as Covid deaths. The number of actual Covid deaths is far less. The vast majority of those coded as Covid deaths died from complications from other issues. Since the number did not spike, it appears that the majority of those people would have died with or without Covid. You can look for yourself, it’s all there statistically on the very website you mentioned.

Last I checked, heart disease is not contagious.

Armed with gun? Depends on how fast he can pull it out and if he has prostrate problems :duck:

More than 60 million Americans were infected with the H1N1 virus in the 12 month period 4/09-4/10. Yet there wasn’t a fraction of the media coverage that Covid has received. The CDC has reported that only 6% of all Covid coded deaths didn’t involve a comorbidity. Based on those numbers, H1N1 was actually more deadly. Where was the 24/7 news coverage?

Awesome, great reporting job. Now do "permanent lung damage and other debilitating, life-altering illness cases as a result of COVID-19." And compare that with all of those same illnesses as a result of "not COVID-19," for the past 5 years.

Since no one has any idea, it’s probably just as blown out of proportion as the virus itself.
Some people just can’t stand it when the facts don’t align with their feelings...

What is your source for this knowledge that no one has any idea? And what is your source for the knowledge that it's "probably just as blown out of proportion as the virus itself?" Or was that just a feeling, not based on facts?

Interesting, I cited the fact that although there have been over 220,000 coded Covid deaths in 2020, it somehow didn’t effect the total death rate for this year. You didn’t like those facts, and yes, they are facts. Instead you have asked me to prove an unknown. Since the same sources that have overblown the severity of the virus are touting the long term side effects of the virus, it stands to reason that they are probably also overblown...

Absolutely agree 100% they have blown this extremely out of proportion...many of us have gone back to our daily lives months ago, work, recreation, eating out etc...and we are all fine...

My reply is not intended to be political, just using this example because it's one we're all familiar with. George Floyd... - curious how they wove in COVID-19 in conjunction w/his death (as distinguished from manner of death) and was he counted in the COVID death count.
My mom had liver cancer - solely contained w/in the liver - only found on x-ray following a fall after she fainted... developed pneumonia after the fall. During a check on the pneumonia they found her heart valves were flopping around (heart problems her whole life). She died a couple of days later (4 weeks after the fall - and her death cert says liver cancer -- even though it was clearly her heart insufficiency. So it DOES seem they choose whatever they want, among the maladies.

That's quite an observation .... have you considered how many fewer people are driving?

Accordingly to the NHTSA, in 2020, traffic fatalities are down 3.3% which over the first 3 quarters of the year equals 906 fewer deaths than in the first 9 months of 2019.
So, I don’t think that 906 traffic deaths offsets 220,000 “Covid deaths”...

We had a pretty major shutdown of businesses. Very little travel taking place. People staying home much more than before. I would expect the death rate to drop under these conditions - but it did not. That is the Covid effect on the death rate.

Can I prove it? No. But I have a mind that is capable of logical thinking. And my conclusion is that the death rate was rased by Covid. How much? No idea.

And I'll say it again. I don't understand why some people are so passionate about trying to convince us all that Covid is nothing to worry about. I don't live in fear. And I certainly did not panic when all this started. But, I am going to continue to wear a make in stores and keep a bit of distance between others and myself. If that bothers someone, their problem not mine.

Suicides are up, drug related deaths are up & murders are all up in 2020. Offset that with a decrease in traffic deaths. So what happened to the 220,000 “Covid deaths”?
Did the vast majority of them die from their other health issues that would most likely have killed them even without Covid? That seems to be “logical thinking”...

And if we banned automobiles, the death rate would go down also. And if folks ate less, there would be less deaths attributed to diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke. If we banned alcohol, there would be less deaths related to alcohol abuse, etc, etc. I think the point may be that the virus may or may not have been over exploited, exaggerated, over blown.
I am not suggesting that the virus is a hoax. I am suggesting that maybe some panic stricken folks are over reacting. Or, maybe not. Some of you are hiding under your beds in fear (right or wrong) and demanding others do the same. There is absolutely no reason to believe that the human race will be wiped out by this virus. If you fear the virus, then by all means wear protective gear. Protect yourself. Like I have said over and over again, don't expect me to protect you. I am not being negligent UNLESS I discover that I am infected and still wander about the public without taking protective precautions.
When aids was first discovered, I used plastic utensils when I ate out and straws, rather than drink out of washed glasses or forks. Later, when more information was available I realized that I was taking unnecessary precautions. Folks wouldn't allow their kids to attend school with HIV infected children.
I am glad we are having these discussions, because I have now relaxed my guard a bit regarding the virus scare. I am not discounting masks. I rely more upon social distancing than protective attire. My daily activities have returned to just about normal. I am not wasting my time worrying about something that is less likely to infect me than catching the common cold. And I haven't had a cold in about ten years or so.
Do what you gotta do, but don't stress yourselves out worrying about what other folks are doing.