It appears that officials in charge in Washington state want to keep the panic level as high as they can during this pandemic.
To do this, they have been listing some deaths as a result of the coronavirus in their statistics, even when the cause of death is something other than COVID-19 — like gunshot wounds.
This could have real consequences: If Democrat Governor Jay Inslee can mislead on the death rate, and blame more deaths on the coronavirus, he can reinforce his decision to keep his state’s economy closed as long as he wants. In early May, Inslee extended his stay-at-home order for the state at least through May 31, according to KCPQ in Tacoma.
The Freedom Foundation reported last week that gunshot fatalities in Washington were being included in the COVID-19 death count.
A Washington State Department of Health official made the admission at a media briefing Thursday.
“We currently do have some deaths that are being reported that are clearly from other causes,” Dr. Katie Hutchinson said in the telebriefing.
Hutchinson is the health statistics manager for the Washington State DOH.
The governor is acting like he got caught with his hands in the cookie jar. He obviously doesn’t let the facts get in the way of his opinion.
Rather than taking ownership for the misrepresentations, Inslee labeled the report as “malarkey.”
But it’s not “malarkey” to say that classifying a death as a result of COVID-19 when it clearly is not is dangerous and misleading.
It’s obviously an exaggeration meant as a jab at state officials and media outlets that are quick to jump on misleading facts, but it drives home the point that honesty in reporting death rates from COVID-19 is essential if Americans are to be able to trust their government and their news media.
https://www.westernjournal.com/wash...rs-includes-gunshot-victims-among-deaths
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