COVID-19 Megathread 5: The Trumps catch COVID-19

[Green Line]

I have to apologize for ever doubting the sincerity of forumlurker.  I was, and still am, disgusted at the sacrifice of civil liberties over a moderately severe virus.  However, at least he stands by his convictions. It is truly amazing to see all of the liberals here and elsewhere that were crying out in outrage when conservatives picketed outside the Michigan state capitol now disappear.  They were committing mass murder back then for going outside!  The silence during the last week and a half of the riots/protests is truly deafening.  I now know I was right to doubt the intentions of so many “stay inside” people.  Don’t ever act like you care about the public health at this point.  We will never trust you again.

[Green Line]

I have to apologize for ever doubting the sincerity of forumlurker.  I was, and still am, disgusted at the sacrifice of civil liberties over a moderately severe virus.  However, at least he stands by his convictions. It is truly amazing to see all of the liberals here and elsewhere that were crying out in outrage when conservatives picketed outside the Michigan state capitol now disappear.  They were committing mass murder back then for going outside!  The silence during the last week and a half of the riots/protests is truly deafening.  I now know I was right to doubt the intentions of so many “stay inside” people.  Don’t ever act like you care about the public health at this point.  We will never trust you again.

This is like saying that liberals should send their tax cuts back to the Treasury. Ya'll won on the lockdowns. They're over. It's not just you that get to go out now.

As long as you agree that you’re a hypocrite, I support you going out to your heart’s extent.

[Green Line]

Looks like we're going to smash the record today.

Yes, lowest Friday death toll since March 27.  Thank God!

[Green Line]

Wow, nearly 1 million new tests reported today and 100+ less deaths compared to last Tuesday.  Deaths continue to plummet week over week.  Great news!

[Green Line]

https://twitter.com/Mike_Hixenbaugh/status/1278461047054237696

https://twitter.com/Buckleup36/status/1277023213118279680

His last tweet has been debunked multiple times with regards to Florida.  Its been spreading throughout the web for over a month now, appears they're now trying the same with Texas.  Makes the rest of his "reporting" just as suspect.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/jun/03/facebook-posts/claim-florida-undercounting-covid-19-deaths-uses-f/

[Green Line]

Here's what the Politifact says:

So what these posts did was take the 900 figure, which referred to cases in recent years where pneumonia is the underlying cause of death, and compare that to a broader category of cases this year where pneumonia is mentioned on a death certificate, data which is provisional at this point.

It seems the way to settle this would be to go back to previous years' provisional data and see what they looked like. Because even if we assume all the Covid-19 deaths were also assigned to pneumonia, and exclude those, what we have is:
Florida: 5,872 - 2,200 = 3,672 pneumonia deaths (vs 972 avg)
Texas 5,344 - 1,420 = 3,924 pneumonia deaths (vs 1,168 avg)

Still way above the average for previous years.

Except its not just Covid vs Pneumonia.  If pneumonia is listed on the death certificate at all it would be included in those figures, not necessarily as the primary cause of death (provisionally).

I don't see any evidence that Florida and Texas hospitals are engaged in some huge conspiracy to cover up their dead Covid patients.

[Green Line]

Here's what the Politifact says:

So what these posts did was take the 900 figure, which referred to cases in recent years where pneumonia is the underlying cause of death, and compare that to a broader category of cases this year where pneumonia is mentioned on a death certificate, data which is provisional at this point.

It seems the way to settle this would be to go back to previous years' provisional data and see what they looked like. Because even if we assume all the Covid-19 deaths were also assigned to pneumonia, and exclude those, what we have is:
Florida: 5,872 - 2,200 = 3,672 pneumonia deaths (vs 972 avg)
Texas 5,344 - 1,420 = 3,924 pneumonia deaths (vs 1,168 avg)

Still way above the average for previous years.

Except its not just Covid vs Pneumonia.  If pneumonia is listed on the death certificate at all it would be included in those figures, not necessarily as the primary cause of death (provisionally).

I don't see any evidence that Florida and Texas hospitals are engaged in some huge conspiracy to cover up their dead Covid patients.

I know. That's why I said the proper way to do it is to look back at previous years' provisional data and see what the average drop-off is.

An undercount doesn't require a massive conspiracy. All it requires is that people who died in their homes, or otherwise died before being tested and confirmed, or those who tested a false negative, not be counted as Covid patients.

Yes agreed, there is probably an undercount of Covid deaths nationwide, especially since we weren't testing for it until March for the most part.  There is no evidence of a specific undercount in FL or TX relative to the rest of the nation, which was clearly the intention of this tweet that you shared here.

Anyways, great news that there was another massive drop in deaths week-over-week.  Praise the Lord.