At least one in 500 Americans is now dead of covid

[lulalu]

I don't personally know anyone who has died. I have heard of friends of friends (3). But I personally know 3 people who died within a month of being vaccinated. 

I know 5 who were hospitalized, but all survived. One of those has been hospitalized yearly for pneumonia (except 2020) many times so it wasn't a surprise that COVID turned into pneumonia for her. 

When I see the numbers it just conflicts with what I have seen of those I know. Maybe different areas of the US are being hit differently. 

 

[Sneezyone]

I don't personally know anyone who has died save my step-sister's husband. My dad and step-mom blamed it on his obesity and diabetes. He's still dead. His wife (my step-sister) refused the vaccine until it was required by her employer (she's a senior living facility aide). Fortunately, I do not closely associate with people who engage in COVID denialism. I do think that has something to do with the lack of close relationships with COVID deaths.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Sneezyone

[frogger]

6 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

I don't personally know anyone who has died save my step-sister's husband. My dad and step-mom blamed it on his obesity and diabetes. He's still dead. His wife (my step-sister) refused the vaccine until it was required by her employer (she's a senior living facility aide). Fortunately, I do not closely associate with people who engage in COVID denialism. I do think that has something to do with the lack of close relationships with COVID deaths.

It seems that would be the case but most all my anti-vax family doesn't know people who were super sick or died yet. I still don't know anyone personally who has died from it. 3 people with long term symptoms of a cough or lowered O2 when exercising. I have friends and family OF friends who have passed away.  I also am close friends with an ICU nurse so I'm not a skeptic by any means but there are many that don't have any connection at all despite living life as normal. On the other hand one of my closest IRL friends has had 5 people that are close to her die. The way this disease clusters is really causing people to distrust each other.

[Sneezyone]

51 minutes ago, frogger said:

It seems that would be the case but most all my anti-vax family doesn't know people who were super sick or died yet. I still don't know anyone personally who has died from it. 3 people with long term symptoms of a cough or lowered O2 when exercising. I have friends and family OF friends who have passed away.  I also am close friends with an ICU nurse so I'm not a skeptic by any means but there are many that don't have any connection at all despite living life as normal. On the other hand one of my closest IRL friends has had 5 people that are close to her die. The way this disease clusters is really causing people to distrust each other.

1 in 500 creates a lot of wiggle room. Still, I think the lack of denialism creates a bubble around folks like me. We locked down (delivery only) for 15 months before we could be vaccinated. My good friends did the best they could. We had one major close call with my (white) uncle b/4 vaccines. No one else has died or even been hospitalized or even reported long COVID despite our ages/ethnicity and comorbidities placing us at higher risk. My biracial niece (PG CHIRO, is a denier in a red state, and I hope she comes around) but I barely know her and she fought me on FB early on WRT a number of issues including masks. She also got COVID. IJS. I think scientific/political orientation and vaccine acceptance make a difference. 

Edited September 16, 2021 by Sneezyone
Clarification

[kbutton]

16 hours ago, MercyA said:

Same in my area. One was a 39-ish-year-old man in my small town. Someone I know confirmed privately that it WAS COVID, but no one is talking about it. It could have saved lives to put it in his obit and make it known. 😞 

I don't know if proclaiming it would help or not. A lot of people here seem to think that it's noble to die of Covid, as if they are taking one for the anti-vax team. It's inevitable but heroic to them. 

[Lady Florida.]

I don't know anyone personally who died or was hospitalized. As was pointed out, it's possible there was someone in my circle that I don't know about such as a cashier, a server, or someone I pass on my walks.

I do know a number of people who got Covid. One was before the vaccination became available, an 85 yo woman in a nursing home who survived polio as a child. Her family joked that they need to study her. 😄  The others were all vaccinated except for two children under 12 who can't get the vaccine yet.

[Lady Florida.]

On 9/16/2021 at 3:03 PM, Sneezyone said:

Fortunately, I do not closely associate with people who engage in COVID denialism. I do think that has something to do with the lack of close relationships with COVID deaths.

This is my situation too. Everyone we closely associate with, including family, takes Covid seriously and those who could get vaccinated got the vaccine as soon as possible. 

Ddil is a nurse in the Covid wing (not ICU). She said everyone there on oxygen is unvaccinated. She said they're seeing young people - people in their 30s and 40s - come in very sick. There are people there who refuse to get vaccinated even though they can't see their dying loved ones unless they've been vaccinated (hospital rules). It just boggles my mind. Some of the people on her wing go home but most end up in ICU.

Dss the firemedic does most of the paramedic work at his station. They have to ask everyone they respond to if they've had the Covid vaccine. No one he has transported has been vaccinated.* He recently transported a dad to the hospital who later died from Covid. A week later he had to transport the mother. There were young children and he didn't want to leave them home alone so he brought them to the hospital until a family member could come and get them. The mother also died. Both were unvaccinated. 😪

*ETA: No one he's transported since the vaccine became readily available has been vaccinated. Obviously before the vaccine, everyone he transported was unvaccinated.

Edited September 20, 2021 by Lady Florida.

[kbutton]

2 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

Dss the firemedic does most of the paramedic work at his station. They have to ask everyone they respond to if they've had the Covid vaccine. No one he has transported has been vaccinated. He recently transported a dad to the hospital who later died from Covid. A week later he had to transport the mother. There were young children and he didn't want to leave them home alone so he brought them to the hospital until a family member could come and get them. The mother also died. Both were unvaccinated. 😪

We know a respiratory therapist at a pediatric hospital who had to intubate a teenager this week that might not make it. The teen's mom is in the regular hospital in the same city. Unvaccinated. 

[Faith-manor]

4 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

This is my situation too. Everyone we closely associate with, including family, take Covid seriously and those who could get vaccinated got the vaccine as soon as possible. 

Ddil is a nurse in the Covid wing (not ICU). She said everyone there on oxygen is unvaccinated. She said they're seeing young people - people in their 30s and 40s - come in very sick. There are people there who refuse to get vaccinated even though they can't see their dying loved ones unless they've been vaccinated (hospital rules). It just boggles my mind. Some of the people on her wing go home but most end up in ICU.

Dss the firemedic does most of the paramedic work at his station. They have to ask everyone they respond to if they've had the Covid vaccine. No one he has transported has been vaccinated. He recently transported a dad to the hospital who later died from Covid. A week later he had to transport the mother. There were young children and he didn't want to leave them home alone so he brought them to the hospital until a family member could come and get them. The mother also died. Both were unvaccinated. 😪

This is so sad! Those poor babies. I weep for them. Tragic and unnecessary.

Here, as someone else said, dying of covid is considered "taking one for the anti-vax team". I will never understand it, but I began blocking people on Facebook who posted this stuff, and have some former 4H families whose emails are sent straight to spam/trash.

It means that I have greatly narrowed my circle to a paltry number of people. I did hear through the grapevine that my covid is a hoax nephew (not to be confused with my super wonderful nephew and wife who are our dear friends) is livid his wife, a CNA at a nursing home, has been fired. She refused to meet the deadline to be vaccinated, refused to mask, refused to test. She plans on suing the nursing home. I don't think m that will go well for her. We have exactly nothing to do with them anymore. His older and younger brothers, the nephews and niece-in-laws with their heads on straight, are only speaking with him briefly by phone once per month, hanging on by a thread.

Here is the loony thing, this niece in law who refused to be covid tested has to be drug tested regularly for her job. She never squeaked about that. 🙄

[Dmmetler]

What bothers me is that in my area, I'll see people posting that they don't know anyone who died of COVID, it's a hoax. Yet, they're in the same homeschool circles I'm in, and almost certainly knew some of the same people. I see COVID denials/anti vax stuff in the gaming group L used to be in-where a very sweet person died due to COVID last October. I see folks claiming it's no big deal in the cheer community, but there are two grandparents and a mom who used to always be there cheering on the kids who won't be there any more...due to COVID.  

 

I really hope there are populations with few COVID deaths because of awareness and precautions, but here, it seems like people who are taking precautions know a lot of people who have been very sick and died, people who are not don't know anyone, even when they know the same people. 

[Faith-manor]

Just now, Dmmetler said:

What bothers me is that in my area, I'll see people posting that they don't know anyone who died of COVID, it's a hoax. Yet, they're in the same homeschool circles I'm in, and almost certainly knew some of the same people. I see COVID denials/anti vax stuff in the gaming group L used to be in-where a very sweet person died due to COVID last October. I see folks claiming it's no big deal in the cheer community, but there are two grandparents and a mom who used to always be there cheering on the kids who won't be there any more...due to COVID.  

 

I really hope there are populations with few COVID deaths because of awareness and precautions, but here, it seems like people who are taking precautions know a lot of people who have been very sick and died, people who are not don't know anyone, even when they know the same people. 

Lying is a thing! Extended family that knows the truth of how my uncle, cousin's wife, and cousin's child died, lie about it all over social media or claim that the doctors lied, and they really had meningitis. 😠

It is makes my blood boil, and is such a disservice to the public.

[Wheres Toto]

Evidently NJ still has the highest Covid death rate with 305 per 100,000.   Mississippi is right behind us with 304.  But most of ours happened in the first wave when we were still figuring out what was going on.   Right now our deaths from covid flop around between 0 and 20-ish in a state of 8.89 million.

[Condessa]

I know one person who has died of Covid, just a couple weeks ago.  I am so sad for their family; she left four kids behind.  She was still in the hospital but no longer in the ICU and they were expecting she would be released soon when she had a heart attack, due to covid damage to her heart.  I also know of a distant relative I have never met who died of covid last year, and of three other acquaintances who were hospitalized with it.  You would expect things to follow like Sneezyone said, with those in covid-cautious communities knowing fewer losses, but oddly that doesn't seem to be the case among those I know.

[regentrude]

1 hour ago, Dmmetler said:

I really hope there are populations with few COVID deaths because of awareness and precautions, but here, it seems like people who are taking precautions know a lot of people who have been very sick and died, people who are not don't know anyone, even when they know the same people. 

I do not know anybody personally who died of Covid. The son in law of a friend/acquaintance did, but I did not know him in person. I also do not know personally anybody who died at all during the past 18 months.
However, my social circle is composed entirely of people who take Covid very seriously and have been taking precautions; who are (with one exception) all vaccinated; who are not elderly (except for one friend who lives on an isolated farm and is very careful about any interactions); who do not live in institutional living situations; who are highly educated; who lead healthy lifestyles.
So the factors that greatly increase the statistical risk of Covid death are all absent.
The picture looks very different in other segments of this community, and in communities with a different racial composition.

But that does not mean I don't believe the numbers. In my county of 40k people, we are at about 180 Covid deaths. Which at 0.45%  is more than twice the national average.

[MercyA]

2 hours ago, kbutton said:

I don't know if proclaiming it would help or not. A lot of people here seem to think that it's noble to die of Covid, as if they are taking one for the anti-vax team. It's inevitable but heroic to them. 

I would say that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, but I've already said that, like, a hundred times this year.

Edited September 16, 2021 by MercyA

[kbutton]

5 minutes ago, MercyA said:

I would say that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, but I've already said that, like, a hundred times already this year.

They don't say it directly, but they live it, and they say they aren't worried about dying because they know where they'll go. They send each other tips on how to recover from Covid (some evidence-based like proning and some whackadoodle). They send each other podcasts on grief. Anything but mask and/or take a vaccine. If they survive Covid, they break out into testimony about how faithful God was to save them and how they really benefitted from literally trusting God for their next breath.

I don't think many of them are wanting to get it, but I think that getting it is seen as something that comes from resisting being a sheeple, etc. They go into living their life knowing this could happen and are fine with it. They'd rather have the vacation and Covid than no vacation. They'd rather pass along disinformation that get a shot. 

[Bootsie]

I have had one colleague die from COVID and I have known a few other people who have died with COVID (but no one I was close to).  I know many people who have died from other causes in the past 18 months. .  I am in an organization that has just under 200 members; we did not meet in person for a year because of COVID; in that year, we had six members die from non-COVID causes (and one additional member died this past month from a non-COVID cause).  

[mathnerd]

The numbers are worse in Mississippi  I dread the Fall season, considering that is when the predicted wave was supposed to happen and it is still only  the end of summer.

Roughly 1 of every 320 Mississippians have succumbed to the coronavirus.

https://apnews.com/article/health-pandemics-coronavirus-pandemic-mississippi-acf7115c4992cd29af82495ed522ea3a

Edited September 18, 2021 by mathnerd

[Dmmetler]

8 hours ago, mathnerd said:

The numbers are worse in Mississippi  I dread the Fall season, considering that is when the predicted wave was supposed to happen and it is still only  the end of summer.

Roughly 1 of every 320 Mississippians have succumbed to the coronavirus.

https://apnews.com/article/health-pandemics-coronavirus-pandemic-mississippi-acf7115c4992cd29af82495ed522ea3a

This is one of the big reasons why the Shelby County health department put a lot of the mandates and restrictions back in, and has pushed so hard for masking, etc in schools. Because by sharing a border with MS, we get a lot of medical cases from MS. 

[Farrar]

9 hours ago, mathnerd said:

The numbers are worse in Mississippi  I dread the Fall season, considering that is when the predicted wave was supposed to happen and it is still only  the end of summer.

Roughly 1 of every 320 Mississippians have succumbed to the coronavirus.

https://apnews.com/article/health-pandemics-coronavirus-pandemic-mississippi-acf7115c4992cd29af82495ed522ea3a

It's so sad. Our general expectations about viruses like Covid are that they'll be seasonal and surge in the fall. But when everyone lives somewhere with that much heat, then they get driven inside in the summer but go back outside in the fall (at least, eventually). So I wonder if it might have a different season pattern for the deep south with cases tending to spike in summer and ease off in fall... then spike again in late winter when it gets cold enough to drive people back inside and the air is more dry.

[Corraleno]

13 hours ago, mathnerd said:

The numbers are worse in Mississippi  I dread the Fall season, considering that is when the predicted wave was supposed to happen and it is still only  the end of summer.

Roughly 1 of every 320 Mississippians have succumbed to the coronavirus.

https://apnews.com/article/health-pandemics-coronavirus-pandemic-mississippi-acf7115c4992cd29af82495ed522ea3a

Those numbers are horrific, but so few people have any grasp of statistics that a lot of them think it actually confirms their belief that covid is NBD: covid has only killed 0.3% of Mississippians — that's a 99.7% survival rate!

The Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Vegas also had a 99.7% survival rate, and a 96% chance of not being shot or trampled. But how many people would buy a ticket to a concert if they knew 61 people were going to die and 867 would be wounded?

[mathnerd]

On 9/18/2021 at 1:45 PM, Corraleno said:

Those numbers are horrific, but so few people have any grasp of statistics that a lot of them think it actually confirms their belief that covid is NBD: covid has only killed 0.3% of Mississippians — that's a 99.7% survival rate!

The Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Vegas also had a 99.7% survival rate, and a 96% chance of not being shot or trampled. But how many people would buy a ticket to a concert if they knew 61 people were going to die and 867 would be wounded?

@Corraleno, I agree with you. From the beginning of this pandemic, even when many americans thought that only Wuhan people would die and it was all fine and dandy on American shores, the first thought that went through my mind was that if only 1% of Americans were affected in this pandemic, then it would mean that the Public Health policy people had managed to contain the pandemic with very minimal damage. But, statistically, that would also mean that 3-3.2 million americans would be sick or die - as raw numbers go, that is a staggeringly big number and deaths on that scale would affect every corner of america. Some people look at percentages and say that the CDC claims that 99.7% survive and go to Costco and harass their staff about it (real story that I was witness to) and that Covid is just the flu while not realizing that 0.3% of dead american population is = 900,000 dead americans - and the probability is that many of those covid deaths are in their zip code.

Edited September 20, 2021 by mathnerd

[Fritz]

Sharyl Attkisson had a segment on this topic today. 

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2021/09/19/sharyl_attkisson_serious_questions_about_the_way_covid_deaths_have_been_counted.html

[kiwik]

I don't know anyone who has died of covid.  But then I don't know anyone whose baby died of a cot and I still too precautions.  For that matter I don't know anyone who has died of measles, influensa or lung cancer.  That doesn't mean it is OK to smoke, not get vaccinated or ignore chest infections.  I do know someone who died of AIDS back in the early 90's but that doesn't mean we should all focus on AIDS.

  

[frogger]

2 hours ago, Fritz said:

Sharyl Attkisson had a segment on this topic today. 

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2021/09/19/sharyl_attkisson_serious_questions_about_the_way_covid_deaths_have_been_counted.html

That is interesting. It is strange because the news I get from doctor's and people I know tell me it is greatly greatly undercounted. They say people are dying and yet there will go many days with zero people showing up on the DHSS website. 

 Doctor's say the only reason people get into ICU rooms is because people are dying and emptying the room but it doesn't show on the DHSS website. My friend talked to me about a friend's 7 year old daughter yet no one under 30 has ever been mention on our state website. Another very close friend who is a contact teacher says her student is on a ventilator. I suppose these close friends are lying about specific people they know. I suppose the ER nurse I have known for 15 years is a liar. Despite physicians admitting outright that they won' t put Covid on the death certificates if the family doesn't like it, I'm supposed to believe it is under counted. 

 

This life long libertarian and card carrying Republican (since libertarians never won)  calls hogwash, plain and simple. I'm straight up tired with the bogus crap being peddled for so called reality. If I had to wager big money. I'd wager on it being greatly undercounted. 

Edited September 20, 2021 by frogger

[Fritz]

7 hours ago, frogger said:

That is interesting. It is strange because the news I get from doctor's and people I know tell me it is greatly greatly undercounted. They say people are dying and yet there will go many days with zero people showing up on the DHSS website. 

 Doctor's say the only reason people get into ICU rooms is because people are dying and emptying the room but it doesn't show on the DHSS website. My friend talked to me about a friend's 7 year old daughter yet no one under 30 has ever been mention on our state website. Another very close friend who is a contact teacher says her student is on a ventilator. I suppose these close friends are lying about specific people they know. I suppose the ER nurse I have known for 15 years is a liar. Despite physicians admitting outright that they won' t put Covid on the death certificates if the family doesn't like it, I'm supposed to believe it is under counted. 

 

This life long libertarian and card carrying Republican (since libertarians never won)  calls hogwash, plain and simple. I'm straight up tired with the bogus crap being peddled for so called reality. If I had to wager big money. I'd wager on it being greatly undercounted. 

Not sure what political affiliation has to do with it. Maybe the coroner is a liar then and perhaps Dr. Debra Birx is as well.

Birx (April 7, 2020): The intent is right now, that if someone dies with COVID-19, we are counting that as a COVID-19 death.

[frogger]

55 minutes ago, Fritz said:

Not sure what political affiliation has to do with it. Maybe the coroner is a liar then and perhaps Dr. Debra Birx is as well.

Birx (April 7, 2020): The intent is right now, that if someone dies with COVID-19, we are counting that as a COVID-19 death.

The truth is, they (people you mentioned) don't count everyone. The count relies  on people all across the country. So I'm not saying they are lying.

For all I know, in some places it is over counted and in others it is under counted. I just know something has been fishy where I live. Of course, my state could just be missing people accidently but I'm not feeling very trusting at this time. I realize anecdotes aren't all that useful and that is all I can personally have but I have also learned people simply aren't trustworthy. 

[WildflowerMom]

1 hour ago, Fritz said:

Not sure what political affiliation has to do with it. Maybe the coroner is a liar then and perhaps Dr. Debra Birx is as well.

Birx (April 7, 2020): The intent is right now, that if someone dies with COVID-19, we are counting that as a COVID-19 death.

I'm not sure what to think, honestly.   I know for a fact that in a hospital near me they've had car accident patients brought in, test positive for covid, and die from their accident injuries that day, but the cause of death is declared 'covid'.   Yes, they tested positive for covid, but covid didn't cause their deaths.    I also know that some places are reluctant to classify deaths as being due to covid.   I think the numbers we get from the health dept are probably pretty accurate if you consider that some places over count and some under count.  

[Fritz]

1 hour ago, WildflowerMom said:

I'm not sure what to think, honestly.   I know for a fact that in a hospital near me they've had car accident patients brought in, test positive for covid, and die from their accident injuries that day, but the cause of death is declared 'covid'.   Yes, they tested positive for covid, but covid didn't cause their deaths.    I also know that some places are reluctant to classify deaths as being due to covid.   I think the numbers we get from the health dept are probably pretty accurate if you consider that some places over count and some under count.  

Deaths reported by the health department are just going by the reported cause of death they are given. They are not making the call as to whether they died with or because of covid.

[WildflowerMom]

18 minutes ago, Fritz said:

Deaths reported by the health department are just going by the reported cause of death they are given. They are not making the call as to whether they died with or because of covid.

Oh yeah, I know.  I mean that some places are calling everything a covid death and other places aren’t.  So by the time the health dept gets those numbers, I think it pretty much evens out.  I hope that makes more sense.