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Doubts about RKI deaths: are there actually fewer corona deaths - or even significantly more?

2020-04-07T03:52:15.794Z


In Germany, well over 1000 people have already died from the consequences of the corona virus. But is this calculation correct?


In Germany, well over 1000 people have already died from the consequences of the corona virus. But is this calculation correct?

  • In Germany there is a steady and worrying rise in the number of coronavirus deaths.
  • Well over 1,000 people have already died of the Covid 19 episodes in this country.
  • But is this calculation correct? Some experts have doubts.
  • Here you will find the basic facts about the corona virus * and current developments in Germany *. The following recommendations for corona protective measures * are currently available.

Hamburg / Berlin - In the past few days the number of corona deaths in Germany has increased steadily. In the meantime, well over 100 deaths are reported every day ; the total number rose to 1275 in Germany * by Friday. So far, most of the deaths have been in Bavaria, followed by Baden-Württemberg and NRW. But now there are growing doubts about the death toll , which are mentioned by the Johns Hopkins University and the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). Are the reported corona deaths far too high - or, conversely, too low?

Average age of corona deaths in Germany: 80 years

According to the RKI, the average age of the corona dead in Germany is quite high at 80 . The youngest death victim in Germany was 28 years old and had previous illnesses. Many of the deceased would only have had a manageable life expectancy without the disease. Some lived in nursing homes. Her immune system was already weakened. But did they ultimately die immediately and directly from the consequences of the coronavirus infection ?

Hamburg calculates corona deaths differently - and also requests the RKI to check the counting method

The health authority of the city of Hamburg recently said that the corona deaths are counted differently than the RKI. At the institute, all those who have been diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 virus end up in the death count. In Hamburg only those who are proven to have died of Covid-19 . This in turn is examined by forensic medicine: in the case of deaths with a positive corona test, the exact cause of death is determined during an autopsy.

The difference between the counting methods is significant: On Thursday, the Robert Koch Institute for Hamburg reported 14 deaths, while the Hamburg health authority only reported eight . Many of the deceased already had some serious previous illnesses. Hamburg therefore urges that the counting method be checked nationwide.

At the 13.3. Deceased with (posthumously) detected COVID-19 infection was not the cause of death. In Hamburg, deaths with COVID-19 infection are assessed by the Institute of Forensic Medicine. (1/2)

- BGV Hamburg (@bgv_hh) April 2, 2020

RKI President: Corona death rate in Germany is rather underestimated

The President of the Robert Koch Institute, Professor Dr. Lothar Wieler countered this criticism at a press conference on Friday. "The death rate is underestimated rather than overestimated," he says. He assumes that there are probably more corona deaths in Germany than the official figures reflect. The virus is often no longer found postmortem, so there could be a high number of unreported cases .

Many hidden corona dead? A study from Italy seems to support this unreported theory

A study from Italy supports the assumption that there could be many more unregistered corona deaths, reports fr.de *. The national statistics agency Istat and the Istituto Cattaneo in Bologna compared current death numbers from spring 2020 with the mean value from 2015 to 2019 in the same period.

Between February 21 and March 21, a total of 4,825 people died of Covid-19, but the total number of deaths was 8,740 deaths above the average of previous years . There is thus a difference of almost 4,000 deaths above the average if you deduct the known corona deaths. Most of these may be people who also died from the coronavirus episodes without having been documented as sick.

Corona dead in Germany: died from the corona virus - or with it?

But the criticism of the RKI counting comes not only from Hamburg, but also from the University of Bonn, for example. The local virologist Professor Hendrik Streeck gave a concrete example in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung : "In Heinsberg, for example, a 78-year-old man with previous illnesses died of heart failure, and this without Sars-2's lung involvement. Since he was infected, he dives he, of course, in the Covid 19 statistics. ”According to Streeck *, the question was whether the patient“ had not died anyway ”.

Medical statistics expert Gerd Antes went into the problem in the Spiegel interview: "Many of those who now die from the corona virus might have died without the virus, but later." It is impossible to tell whether someone died from the virus or the virus . This would require more post-mortems.

Most of the previous illnesses of the corona dead in Wuhan were not immediately fatal

Infectiologist Gerd Fätkenheuer , on the other hand, goes into a study from Wuhan in which the patient data of 191 patients was evaluated, reports ntv . Here it has been shown that the most common concomitant diseases of those who died in Wuhan were high blood pressure and diabetes. Both diseases are not immediately fatal.

RKI President Wieler has been criticized more often in recent weeks - also due to incorrect assessments and incorrect corona forecasts.

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* Merkur.de and fr.de are part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network

List of rubric lists: © picture alliance / dpa / Emilio Morenatti

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-04-07

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