How Washington state counts its COVID-19 deaths is a simple question. <\/p>\n
Getting a final and correct answer for the state is not.<\/p>\n
When someone dies, determining the cause can take anywhere from a day to six months, or even longer. It can be a slow and complicated process of investigating.<\/p>\n
This new disease caused by coronavirus adds a contour of complexity as those on the front lines combating the virus — as well as the public which is living with and restrained by it — seek information on its toll in real time to devise the best strategies to hem in and halt its spread.<\/p>\n
State health officials update the number of deaths each day — it stood at 1,044 on Thursday — knowing it is not an entirely correct figure but is the most accurate at that moment.<\/p>\n
“This really has not been an easy task. We are providing the best information in the fastest way,” said Katie Hutchinson, health statistics manager for the Washington Department of Health. “Is it 100% accurate? Data never are. Is it the best we have at the time? Yes.”<\/p>\n
This week, the Freedom Foundation, a conservative political organization which routinely fences with Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, cast doubt on the official <\/a>count<\/a>, asserting it is inflated as much as 13% because it includes every person who had a positive test. At that time, the state had reported 1,000 deaths.<\/p>\n “Obviously, not every person who tests positive for COVID-19 and subsequently passes away dies because of COVID-19,” the group concluded in a report released May 18.<\/p>\n Inslee, at a televised news conference, said he had “no reason to doubt” the tally and fired back at the organization.<\/p>\n “I guess they’re saying that would make it 887 dead and that’s OK and we should not act responsibly if there are only 887 people instead of 1,000 people?” he said. “I’m not sure I understand that logic.”<\/p>\n State health officials acknowledged Thursday there will be subtractions, and possibly additions, in the course of time.<\/p>\n [infogram id=”1c857c3e-e41a-4e7a-a441-a65e734f630a” prefix=”MYS” format=”interactive” title=”The deaths”]<\/p>\n As of Thursday, they had identified about 30 deaths that could be removed from the count at some point. Fewer than five were people who died from gunshot wounds, Hutchinson said. The rest are cases requiring further investigation because the individuals had a positive test but their death certificates list causes like cancer, stroke, or Alzheimer’s. They will look to see if there is a connection.<\/p>\n And the toll could rise as well. Death certificates for about 100 people list COVID-19 as the cause but the state has no record they were ever tested or ever tested positive. So those fatalities are not in the official count.<\/p>\n “We cannot rule them in or rule them out,” Hutchinson said. “We suspect we may actually be undercounting deaths rather than overcounting. It may take up to a year, or more, to get final COVID death numbers.”<\/p>\n Finding the cause<\/strong><\/p>\n When a person dies in Washington, within three days, a report must be entered<\/a> into the state’s Electronic Death Registration System<\/a> (EDRS) which contains information including the person’s name, date of birth and date of death. A section for the cause may, or may not, be fully completed in this initial report. In 2018, there were 56,913 deaths recorded in Washington.<\/p>\n