4 ms·
More generally, there is no universally agreed way to record all the factors that contributed to a death at the time of death or certification. This is why exc
by Blahah 5y ago
More generally, there is no universally agreed way to record all the factors that contributed to a death at the time of death or certification.
This is why excess deaths is the real metric by which the toll of this pandemic will be measured, at least in countries with reliable records about whether deaths happened at all.
- grumpyautist 5y agoExcess deaths doesn't work either. Gun violence has increased everywhere. So have suicides in my region of the world. I don't know who or why this comment got flagged, it doesn't change reality
- Blahah 5y agoExcess deaths in a decent model account for other explanatory factors (war, sociopolitical things, etc.) that are not linked to the factor in question (covid-19 here). I'm not suggesting the crude arithmetical number of excess deaths is the key, but that a nuanced estimate of excess deaths in a model that accounts for other significant factors is a far better measure than anything else we have available.