Health departments across the state of Ohio will now includes people it suspects of having coronavirus, but have not tested positive for the virus in its official count.
Dayton & Montgomery County will now count coronavirus patients who are experiencing symptoms, such as a cough or fever, arguing that it will give them a more accurate number of people suffering from the virus, according to WHIO TV. (RELATED: FLASHBACK: Jan.21: Fauci Says Coronavirus Not A Major Threat To U.S.)
Over 5,000 people in the state of Ohio have tested positive for the virus, with over 200 dead. Nearly half a million Americans have tested positive for the virus, with nearly 17,000 deaths across the country, according to a running tracker from the New York Times.
However, concerns over the accuracy of the count have emerged after top White House coronavirus adviser, Dr. Deborah Birx said during a press conference earlier this week that the government was counting patients who died with the virus in its official death toll, even if the patient did not die as a direct result of the virus. (RELATED: People Are Starting To Question The Accuracy Of The White House’s Coronavirus Model)
“We’ve taken a very liberal approach to mortality,” Birx said.
Here is Dr. Birx saying that the government is recording anyone who dies with coronavirus in the United States, regardless of any other health issue, as a death from coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/p2nIhH4bHP
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) April 7, 2020
Dr. Anthony Fauci later dismissed concerns of over counting as a “conspiracy theory.”