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Listen: What Counts In Measuring The Full COVID Death Toll? It’s Complicated

 

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KHN senior correspondent Markian Hawryluk joined KUNC’s Erin O’Toole on “Colorado Edition” to discuss his recent story that detailed the challenges in determining the full death toll from the coronavirus pandemic. He also appeared on WNHN’s “The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen” to discuss the article.

His reporting delved into the various ways that officials count deaths from the pandemic. Without widespread testing, he found, officials must sort through presumed COVID deaths and those who died with infections rather than from them. Then there are the indirect deaths of people who died from circumstances created by the pandemic.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

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