TOMS RIVER, NJ – Last week, the Center for Disease Control released new data on the COVID-19 virus that many American’s had long suspected. Most healthy Americans are at extremely low risk of dying from the disease. According to the CDC, just 6% of deaths from the virus occurred in otherwise healthy people with no other underlying health conditions, called “co-morbidity” factors. In fact, most who died from the disease had 2 or more other underlying co-morbidity ailments.
“For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned. For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death,” the CDC said. “The number of deaths with each condition or cause is shown for all deaths and by age groups.”
The leading underlying contributors to COVID-19 deaths include hypertension, heart problems, diabetes and dementia, according to the CDC. More than half of COVID-19 deaths in America were in the 55+ age group, with individuals that had co-morbidity issues. A large number of deaths were the result of several states sending COVID-19 infected seniors into long term care facilities. Last week, the Department of Justice launched a formal investigation into the high death rates in states that sent sick patients into care facilities.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, New York has the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States, with 32,592 victims, many of them elderly. New York’s death rate by population is the second highest in the country with 1,680 deaths per million people. New Jersey’s death rate by population is 1,733 deaths per million people – the highest in the nation. In contrast, Texas’s death rate by population is 380 deaths per million people; and Texas has just over 11,000 deaths, though its population is 50 percent larger than New York and has many more recorded cases of COVID-19 – 577,537 cases in Texas versus 430,885 cases in New York. Florida’s COVID-19 death rate is 480 deaths per million; with total deaths of 10,325 and a population slightly larger than New York.
For example, on March 25, 2020, New York ordered: “No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to [a nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19. [Nursing homes] are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission.”
Detractors are now saying the August 26th CDC update is a political move being carried out by the Trump administration to downplay the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic.