Lab leak vs natural spill over is a distraction from the lack of evidence that COVID-19 is a viral pandemic originating in China.

In my previous threads I showed that the lockdown in Wuhan was too late.

I showed that all cause mortality was already well above normal and an estimated 7 million people left the city in the weeks leading up to the lockdown, including 300,000 people on the eve of the lockdown.

I showed that the vast majority of international travelers went to other Asian countries.

I showed that studies, including the Seattle Flu Study, finding a lack of early spread of the virus lack plausibility due to the absence of false positives, and I showed that there is a larger body of contradictory evidence.

In this thread, I will show that the excess mortality during the spring 2020 wave was associated with a decline in emergency department utilization, not just for low acuity visits but for high acuity visits as well.

If this is confusing due to media reporting on overwhelmed hospitals, the confusion is coming from the fact that the emergency department and intensive care unit are separate.

I will present data showing that ED utilization went down while ICU utilization went up, suggesting that patients delayed care until it was too late.

ourworldindata.org/grapher/exc

nytimes.com/interactive/2020/0

Follow

"Between March 11 and April 21, 2020, 42% fewer patients were admitted to VA inpatient facilities compared with the preceding 6 weeks, including for conditions generally requiring emergency treatment.

The percentage decrease in admissions for conditions generally requiring emergency treatment was greater or similar in magnitude to the decrease in admissions overall and is unlikely to be attributable to declines in elective surgeries or disease incidence related to reduced stress or lower exposure to other pathogens or pollution.

Rather, many patients may be avoiding hospitals to minimize risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection."

Baum A, Schwartz MD. Admissions to Veterans Affairs Hospitals for Emergency Conditions During the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA. 2020;324(1):96–99. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.9972

jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/

Sign in to participate in the conversation
Qoto Mastodon

QOTO: Question Others to Teach Ourselves
An inclusive, Academic Freedom, instance
All cultures welcome.
Hate speech and harassment strictly forbidden.