3 ms·

I believe what you're talking about ("...likely died due to being unable to access health care in a timely fashion" etc). is is exactly what contributes to an e

I believe what you're talking about ("...likely died due to being unable to access health care in a timely fashion" etc). is is exactly what contributes to an excess death. That's why excess deaths are important, they take into account exactly those deaths caused indirectly. (a bit unclear, but you get me I hope).

petertodd 6y ago
But it's quite critical to know what % of excess deaths were caused by unreported COVID-19 infections, vs lockdown. The fact is, lockdown will kill people. It's really important to figure out how many it will kill, so we can balance that against lives saved, especially with COVID-19 proving to be much less deadly than originally feared. As an extreme example, for some poorer countries without much healthcare infrastructure, you can definitely make the case that given the inevitability of the virus spreading, in some situations the right thing to do is give up early, accept that you'll have a wave of deaths, and move on. The alternative is a slow motion disaster with about as many direct COVID deaths, and additional deaths due to lockdown. If you don't have healthcare infrastructure to begin with, overloading it doesn't change much.