State’s COVID-19 death toll falls by more than 3,700 under new counting method | The Boston Globe

CEID Faculty Dr. Cassandra Pierre offers insights on Massachusetts’ new method of counting COVID-19 deaths:

“Dr. Cassandra Pierre, an infectious disease physician who is the associate hospital epidemiologist at Boston Medical Center, said ‘the number of deaths directly caused by COVID-19’ will be more accurately reflected under the new system, but ‘the larger issue has been significant undercounting of the true number of COVID-related deaths.’

‘Even in [Massachusetts], the lack of COVID tests and unwitnessed deaths at home among those attempting to stay out of crowded hospitals (or without access to healthcare) during the first few months of the pandemic contributed to greater mortality than we’ve accounted for,’ Pierre said in an e-mail Monday night. ‘COVID-19′s death toll is likely higher than our current count, but the missing numbers are not going to be found in the deaths that were excluded based on the state’s new definition.’”

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