Are rural Texas counties undercounting COVID deaths because rural JPs, the people who make death certificate diagnoses outside hospitals, aren't trained on what to look for? The Observer investigates.
Here's one takeaway:
According to the Boston University data, 24 mostly rural Texas counties likely missed half or more of the COVID-19 deaths in 2020.
Followed by another:
Last April, JPs from Orange and Jefferson counties told the Beaumont Enterprise that they didn’t want to waste money ordering tests on people who were already dead, nor were they counting the deaths as COVID-19 deaths based on information provided by family members.
So, whether or not undercounting is deliberately politicized in some cases, it comes off looking that way.
Whether a state ME system is the best fix for this or not, I don't know. A cheaper but better option might be requiring a basic training in coronary science certification for JPs.
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