Morning statistics – Difficulties in ensuring accurate data collection – Nations with female leaders
Today’s statistics as of 7:30 AM — # of cases worldwide: 2,265,757; # of deaths worldwide: 154,900; # of cases U.S.: 710,272; # of deaths U.S.: 37,175. There is some deceleration in the rate of new cases and of new deaths. China’s number of active cases is now listed at 1,058, which means that the low figure reported yesterday was false, and that in turn raises doubts about its statistics as a whole. The active mortality rate worldwide is close to 7%. The U.S. mortality rate is about 5.2%, which is better than average but still quite high. On a local level, Virginia’s incidence count is nearly 7,500 and has had 231 deaths.
Those who maintain that the reports of the virus are “fake news” – and I personally know a couple of these – argue that the number of deaths is over-reported and that many are due to other causes, along the lines of Bill O’Reilly’s argument quoted earlier. As it happens, in my career I had had to generate numerous statistical reports and I know something about the difficulties of ensuring the accuracy of data collection. My relative who died last month is a case in point. He was over 70 years old and he had an underlying heart condition. He fell ill, was diagnosed with the virus, was put on a ventilator when his breathing difficulties made it impossible for him to breathe on his own, was eventually removed from the ventilator as this symptom moderated, and had a fatal heart attack shortly afterwards. Should his death be attributed to the virus or be listed as a heart attack? One can make an argument either way, and the decision ultimately resides with the doctor who signed the death certificate. The argument cuts both ways, however; an epidemiologist might argue that many deaths officially attributed to heart failure or asthma should in fact be listed as deaths caused by the virus.
Whether the numbers of cases and of deaths from the coronavirus are over-reported or under-reported, however, is of secondary importance to a hospital administrator or the director of a funeral home. One statistic, at least, is beyond dispute – the increase in the number of people requiring treatment in urgent care, which is straining our hospitals to the breaking point, and the larger number of deceased people requiring burial or cremation, which is overwhelming the funeral homes. New York City alone has had over 13,000 deaths above the median. Whether they were a direct result of the virus or whether the virus was merely a proximate cause makes little difference to the workers interring or cremating the bodies.
It has been noted that seven of the nations that have taken the virus seriously and adopted strenuous measures from the beginning – Finland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, New Zealand, and Taiwan – have women leaders and this circumstance has been used to hint that women are better qualified as heads of state. I don’t wish to disparage these leaders, whose policies during this pandemic have displayed a contrast to the ones deployed by our own leader that is rather humiliating for our country; but I should note that several other countries with male leaders – Vietnam and Malaysia come to mind – have also responded fairly effectively. And if we look back a little in time, we find many women leaders who could be just as irresponsible and power-hungry as their male counterparts. Empress Cixi, anyone?