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ANALYSIS<\/strong><\/p>\n April 1, 2020 (LifeSiteNews<\/a>) \u2013 Some have questioned whether the extreme measures taken to attempt to reduce the spread of \u201cCovid-19\u201d may be doing more harm than good. One question that arises is: upon what facts are government entities basing their decisions to lock up entire states and cancel the public celebration of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass?<\/p>\n Decisions throughout America are likely based, at least partially, upon the tally of \u201cCovid-19 deaths\u201d. It is a somewhat ambiguous phrase, and when one performs the research, one likely finds that there does not appear to be a clear universal definition of a \u201cCovid-19 death.\u201d<\/p>\n In the U.S., the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the authoritative source for a definition. But a definition does not appear to be explicitly stated in expected locations; the CDC\u2019s Covid-19\u00a0cases and deaths<\/a>\u00a0statistics\u2019 page does not provide a definition of \u201cCovid-19 death.\u201d Does the phrase only refer to deaths from severe acute respiratory syndrome solely caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus? Or does \u201cCovid-19 death\u201d refer to all deceased people who have received a positive test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus? Does it refer to some who have been merely\u00a0assumed<\/em>\u00a0to have died indirectly from Covid-19-like complications? Does the \u201cCovid-19 death\u201d tally include deceased who had co-infections with other viruses which can cause severe acute respiratory symptoms or pneumonia like H1N1, influenza A or B, or respiratory syncytial virus and thus could also be tallied as a \u201cswine flu\/H1N1 death\u201d or \u201cinfluenza death\u201d?<\/p>\n Are some \u201cCovid-19 deaths\u201d resulting from easily preventable conditions like dehydration rather than severe acute respiratory syndrome?<\/p>\n Most commentators have focused on comparing Covid-19 to influenza, but respiratory syncytial virus can also cause pneumonia and results in an estimated 177,000 hospitalizations and 14,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. Can a \u201cCovid-19 death\u201d also be the result of a co-infection with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and therefore be labeled as an \u201cRSV death\u201d?<\/p>\n Additionally, the\u00a0CDC\u2019s Covid-19 tally<\/a>\u00a0includes \u201cpresumptive<\/em>\u00a0positive cases of COVID-19 reported to CDC\u201d (added emphasis). Does the tally of \u201cCovid-19 deaths\u201d also include \u201cpresumptive positive cases of Covid-19\u201d?\u00a0 Are states and the federal government basing decisions to prohibit public celebration of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, impose unemployment, potential poverty, and potentially life-threatening problems on millions of Americans off of faulty and misleading assumptions and presumptions?<\/p>\n Again, it is not outright evident what is included in the phrase \u201cCovid-19 death.\u201d One has to do some literature research on the source of mortality data for potential hints.\u00a0According to the CDC,<\/a>\u00a0\u201c[t]he basic source of information about mortality is the death certificate.\u201d\u00a0 One clue, then, is observable in how the CDC is advising physicians to fill out death certificates. Death certificates should describe immediate cause of death as well as factors contributing to death. In many states, death certificates are public records. From the\u00a0CDC<\/a>:<\/p>\n Death certificates are used for surveillance [of HIV\/AIDS, influenza, pneumonia, tuberculosis, etc.], outbreaks, and emergency activities\u2026because death is a sentinel event. Rapid reporting of deaths is required by law. The information is used at local and state health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for rapid response. (No. 6)<\/p>\n It is apparent, then, that national mortality data including the CDC\u2019s \u201cCovid-19 deaths\u201d statistics arise from what is reported on death certificates.<\/p>\n Physicians document the medical information on the death certificate. How, then, are physicians advised to record a death in which SARS-CoV-2 virus or \u201cCovid-19\u201d may be involved?<\/p>\n The CDC recently published a \u201cCovid-19 Alert<\/a>\u201d dated March 24, 2020 with guidance on the topic. The document summarizes potential questions from death certificate certifiers, which are most often physicians. One question which indicates how broadly \u201cCovid-19 death\u201d is being defined is, \u201c[s]hould \u2018COVID-19\u2019 be reported on the death certificate only with a confirmed test?\u201d The CDC gives the following guidance:<\/p>\n COVID-19 should be reported on the death certificate for all decedents where the disease caused\u00a0or is assumed to have caused or contributed to death<\/strong>. Certifiers should include as much detail as possible based on their knowledge of the case, medical records, laboratory testing, etc. If the decedent had other chronic conditions such as COPD or asthma that may have also contributed, these conditions can be reported in Part II. [Original emphasis]<\/p>\n If Covid-19 is \u201cassumed to have caused\u201d or \u201cassumed to\u2026have contributed to death\u201d, it is to be reported on the death certificate. \u201cCovid-19 caused death\u201d and \u201cCovid-19 is assumed to have caused or contributed to death\u201d are two very different descriptions; yet, they are apparently included under the same phrase of \u201cCovid-19 death.\u201d Furthermore, as it is written above, a deceased may be included as a \u201cCovid-19 death\u201d even if the deceased was not confirmed to have had Covid-19.<\/p>\n It is known that many \u201cCovid-19 deaths\u201d occur in individuals with multiple underlying medical problems. And if a \u201cCovid-19 death\u201d includes \u201cdecedents where the disease caused\u00a0or is assumed to have caused or contributed to death<\/strong>\u201d, as the alert above states, then it follows that the CDC\u2019s official tally of \u201cCovid-19 deaths\u201d does not mean what millions of Americans think it means.<\/p>\n \u201cCovid-19 deaths\u201d also apparently includes deceased who may have had co-infections with other viruses which also could be \u201cassumed to have contributed to death\u201d. Examples include HIV\/AIDS which weakens the immune system along with non-Covid-19 viruses which may cause pneumonia and severe acute respiratory symptoms. How many \u201cCovid-19 deaths\u201d are among persons with multiple viral infections?<\/p>\n One could assume that SARS-CoV-2 virus would contribute to death in a patient who already has pneumonia resulting from H1N1. Or, one could assume there are deceased who have tested positive for co-infections with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the swine flu, influenza, and\/or respiratory syncyctial virus. According to the above federal government guidance to physicians, the death certificate of such deceased who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus along with other viral infections would be counted in the CDC\u2019s tally of \u201cCovid-19 deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n A related statistic that does not appear to be publicized is the number of \u201cCovid-19 deaths\u201d among immunodeficient persons. A reasonable person might ask if the deceased recorded as \u201cCovid-19 deaths\u201d contracted respiratory syncytial virus or influenza instead of SARS-CoV-2 virus, would they still likely die? And if those are included in the \u201cCovid-19 deaths\u201d, should mortality data of those deaths be the basis for shutting down almost the entire country? How many \u201cCovid-19 deaths\u201d are among working-aged or working-class persons without immunodeficiency? This is not to trivialize life and death but instead to question possibly problematic logic in decision making among powerful government authorities.<\/p>\n The CDC\u2019s alert above indicates that \u201cCovid-19 deaths\u201d includes some who may not have even tested positive for the virus. Other \u201cCovid-19 deaths\u201d may include mere assumptions that Covid-19 probably contributed to death in persons that may have succumbed to other viruses had they contracted them.<\/p>\n Notably, too, the above guidance on how Covid-19 deaths should be reported by physicians on death certificates is dated March 24, 2020. The alert provides a very broad guidance of what physicians should report on death certificates and is then apparently included in the CDC\u2019s tally of \u201cCovid-19 death\u201d mortality data. If one views the data of daily reported deaths after March 24, 2020, one finds that there was an apparent sudden increase in daily \u201cCovid-19 deaths.\u201d This may not be due to spread of the virus, though, as one may be misled to think. It may be a result of the March 24, 2020 guideline from the CDC which says that \u201cCOVID-19 should be reported on the death certificate for all decedents where the disease caused or is \u201cassumed to have caused or contributed to death\u201d; as this is stated, it would include some that have not tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus. And, as written, it includes many others that may have co-infections with other viruses which may be \u201cassumed to have contributed to death\u201d. Or, it could include patients with COPD and a recent history of pneumonia resulting as a side effect of certain medications but with Covid-19 \u201cassumed to have contributed to death\u201d. Thus, mortality statistics of \u201cCovid-19 deaths\u201d could have immediately inflated after March 24, 2020 as a result.<\/p>\n And, the\u00a0CDC itself notes<\/a>\u00a0that it is often the case that deceased individuals have \u201cso many medical problems\u201d which make it difficult to specify the underlying cause of death on a death certificate. Apparently in reference to such circumstances, the\u00a0CDC guides<\/a>\u00a0in the following manner:<\/p>\n the rules for coding and selection of the underlying cause of death are expected to result in COVID19 being the underlying cause more often than not.<\/p>\n Since all patients testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus will already likely be reported to the state and local health departments as well as the CDC, and since the CDC is nudging physicians to include Covid-19 as the underlying cause of death, it seems likely that physicians will \u201cmore often than not\u201d include this on the death certificate just to be safe in terms of preventing possible future legal action.<\/p>\n Oftentimes Catholics get falsely accused of opposing science. Here we have a case of a powerful government entity using assumptions, \u201cprobables\u201d, and pre-determined or skewed results which may inflate mortality data. That is in opposition to basic scientific principles. If drug study leaders (with trillions of dollars to potentially give to hospitals) comparing two different drugs informed all physician participants throughout the U.S. to expect to report Drug A to be effective or to report \u201cmore often than not\u201d Drug B will be the underlying cause of death, the results of such a study would be considered at minimum not trustworthy.<\/p>\n Indeed, the \u201cCovid-19 deaths\u201d tally does not appear to be defined in the way that most people think. And it appears as though some of the most extreme decisions in the history of America may not be based upon scientific evidence but instead on projections, assumptions, probables, and possibly inflated mortality rates.<\/p>\n Robert L. Kinney III, Pharm.D., M.A. holds a Doctor of Pharmacy from Purdue University and an M.A. in Philosophy with a concentration in bioethics from Franciscan University of Steubenville. He has been published in The Linacre Quarterly, National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, Crisismagazine.com, and Homiletic and Pastoral Review.<\/em><\/p>\n