4 ms·

I appreciate the journalist's work, but I still confused if there is exist the standart way to count COVID-19 death. > Tehran, the capital, has the highest num

by zkid18 6y ago

I appreciate the journalist's work, but I still confused if there is exist the standart way to count COVID-19 death. > Tehran, the capital, has the highest number of deaths with 8,120 people who died with COVID-19 or symptoms similar to it. Not sure how Iran had formalized the similar symptoms and if they count death from another deceases that were triggered by COVID-19. Imo the cover-up reasons seems weak.

armada651 6y ago
> Not sure how Iran had formalized the similar symptoms and if they count death from another deceases that were triggered by COVID-19. Why would you want to make that distinction and not count those people with pre-existing diseases who died as a consequence of contracting COVID-19? For example weak cardiovascular health in overweight people already puts them at higher risk of dying after contracting COVID-19. I don't see why anyone would not count those cases unless they want to paint a rosier picture.
- zkid18 6y ago
  For the sake of clear experiment I would distinguish those cases and mark them as a consequences of contacting COVID-19. The stats about the total number of death seems quite noisy.
DangerousPie 6y ago
The standard way is to count how many deaths there were in excess of what would be expected in a normal year. That way you're not relying on testing capabilities and you're not relying on how different countries define a death due to COVID. You're simply asking "how many more people have died this year than would have died normally". Of course this will also include deaths not directly caused by infections with the virus. But it gives an overall picture of the impact of the virus and its downstream effects on a country and allows comparisons between countries.
- zkid18 6y ago
  Exactly, but the the environment different as well. I don't have a stat to support my arguments but I bet that the quarantine measurements have lower the number of death from car accidents or from cardiovascular-disease. Also given the dramatic economical consequences of quarantine people have become more stressful than usual.
- coldtea 6y ago
  >The standard way is to count how many deaths there were in excess of what would be expected in a normal year. Might be the better, or more illuminating way, but it's a standard for whom? Most western governments report covid deaths it in a totally different way - not by taking into any account excess deaths. So it's not like Iran is doing anything special in this regard...
- Traster 6y ago
  That's a measure of deaths due to the coronavirus pandemic, not a count of the number of deaths from coronavirus. It's important to note that in the UK, fewer deaths than the average year were measured at the beginning of the pandemic because routine and non-emergency medical procedures were cancelled or postponed.
- tremon 6y ago
  The standard way is to count how many deaths there were in excess of what would be expected in a normal year. Yes, but you can only do that in aggregate over a larger period, you can't use it as a basis for daily statistics, not in the least because not all deaths are recorded the same day they occur. The daily death tallies are based on confirmed cases only, in pretty much every country. That means underreporting of cases is the norm, not the exception [0]. I must say those graphs are a bit hard to interpret, but if I understand correctly: a gray bulge above the dark gray dotted line implies excess deaths not officially attributed to Covid-19. From those figures, it seems only Denmark and Germany are accurately reporting Covid deaths, and Belgium, France and the US may be overreporting the death tally (although it can also mean that not all deaths in the past weeks have been recorded yet in the official figures). [0] https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2020/may/29/excess-deaths-uk-has-one-highest-levels-europe https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2020/may/29...

by zkid18 6y ago

armada651 6y ago

> Not sure how Iran had formalized the similar symptoms and if they count death from another deceases that were triggered by COVID-19. Why would you want to make that distinction and not count those people with pre-existing diseases who died as a consequence of contracting COVID-19? For example weak cardiovascular health in overweight people already puts them at higher risk of dying after contracting COVID-19. I don't see why anyone would not count those cases unless they want to paint a rosier picture.

zkid18 6y ago
For the sake of clear experiment I would distinguish those cases and mark them as a consequences of contacting COVID-19. The stats about the total number of death seems quite noisy.

DangerousPie 6y ago

The standard way is to count how many deaths there were in excess of what would be expected in a normal year. That way you're not relying on testing capabilities and you're not relying on how different countries define a death due to COVID. You're simply asking "how many more people have died this year than would have died normally". Of course this will also include deaths not directly caused by infections with the virus. But it gives an overall picture of the impact of the virus and its downstream effects on a country and allows comparisons between countries.

zkid18 6y ago
Exactly, but the the environment different as well. I don't have a stat to support my arguments but I bet that the quarantine measurements have lower the number of death from car accidents or from cardiovascular-disease. Also given the dramatic economical consequences of quarantine people have become more stressful than usual.
coldtea 6y ago
>The standard way is to count how many deaths there were in excess of what would be expected in a normal year. Might be the better, or more illuminating way, but it's a standard for whom? Most western governments report covid deaths it in a totally different way - not by taking into any account excess deaths. So it's not like Iran is doing anything special in this regard...
Traster 6y ago
That's a measure of deaths due to the coronavirus pandemic, not a count of the number of deaths from coronavirus. It's important to note that in the UK, fewer deaths than the average year were measured at the beginning of the pandemic because routine and non-emergency medical procedures were cancelled or postponed.
tremon 6y ago
The standard way is to count how many deaths there were in excess of what would be expected in a normal year. Yes, but you can only do that in aggregate over a larger period, you can't use it as a basis for daily statistics, not in the least because not all deaths are recorded the same day they occur. The daily death tallies are based on confirmed cases only, in pretty much every country. That means underreporting of cases is the norm, not the exception [0]. I must say those graphs are a bit hard to interpret, but if I understand correctly: a gray bulge above the dark gray dotted line implies excess deaths not officially attributed to Covid-19. From those figures, it seems only Denmark and Germany are accurately reporting Covid deaths, and Belgium, France and the US may be overreporting the death tally (although it can also mean that not all deaths in the past weeks have been recorded yet in the official figures). [0] https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2020/may/29/excess-deaths-uk-has-one-highest-levels-europe https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2020/may/29...