Originally Posted by
stimpy
Yes I get that, but the predictions (guesses) of just a few days ago that the US had thousands of infected people would result in some rise in deaths. And people dying in the hospital are, I believe, tested in post mortem. So they should know.
No, not all hospital deaths are examined post-mortem. And remember, until very recently no one would have tested for SARS-CoV-2 in a patient with no recent travel history (or any contact with someone else who had traveled) who was dead from pneumonia or ARDS. So we've no doubt missed some COVID-19 deaths, probably starting from mid-January. (I don't think we'd have missed a ton, though. A significant uptick in pneumonia or ARDS deaths would have been noticed.)