Hidalgo County published on July 28 a statement about a discrepancy between its coronavirus-related death toll and the tally reported by the Department of State Health Services.
On that day, the province reported 531 COVID-19 deaths and the state reported 254. As of Monday, August 10, the province reported 829 COVID-19 deaths to the state 654.
The July release explained the discrepancy by noting that delays in the issuance of death certificates could cause the difference in reporting, and outlined the province’s reporting process for coronavirus-related deaths.
It raised other questions, such as exactly how are COVID-19 deaths reported, where did these individuals die and just how accurate are these numbers for death toll?
According to Hidalgo County Health Authority Ivan Melendez, the death toll is attractive, about 95 to 99% accurate.
“Contrary to popular belief, there is not much question where the patient dies,” he said.
According to Melendez, about 90% of Hidalgo County’s coronavirus victims have died in hospitals or nursing homes. He says most die in hospitals, followed by nursing homes.
“If you’re in a COVID ward, or you’re in a COVID nursing home ward, and you die, and the reason you die is because you’ve got an airway infection, I mean, it’s nice slam dunk, “he said. ‘That’s the reason you die, you die of COVID.
Melendez says the attending physician has five days to find out the cause of death in the state electronic records system.
“When we declare that someone died of COVID in Hidalgo County, we actually have evidence that the patient did have COVID. “I think our numbers are much better than the numbers of the state, than a bit faster, and there is no bias,” he said.
The province’s numbering system, Melendez said, is superior to the system used by many surrounding counties and even better than the state’s state, in part because the county assigns an individual to its coronavirus epidemiology team. detect tests for deaths related to the virus.
Melendez said there is a possibility of human error when it comes to data from COVID-19, although he thinks it is more likely when reporting positive cases than deaths. Counting a case twice, he said, would be an example of that kind of mistake.
“We try to avoid that, we have a universal bank that we look back and look at, but when it comes to deaths, I do not think that lends itself to overcounting to be very honest,” he said.
What about the coronavirus patients who do not die in a nursing home or a hospital? Melendez’s estimate of 10% of victims dying at home did not have the hospital medical staff on them and they did not always have a positive COVID-19 test lying on the bedside table.
Melendez says he does not know much about the procedure for determining whether those deaths are home or not classified as coronavirus-related. That decision, he says, falls on the justice of the peace, as sometimes on the doctor of the primary care of the deceased.
Precinct 4 Hidalgo County Justice of the Peace Charlie Espinoza says he and his staff would rather rely on a positive test in determining a COVID-19 death, but symptoms exhibited by the deceased are also considered.
“If they tell the officer he was (positive for COVID-19), I will most of the time try to get a confirmation of some kind from the family where he was tested,” he said. “Well, if he was not tested and had the symptoms, then I would try to ask his symptoms and then I might be able to consider the COVID.”
Sometimes that determination on the ground can change. Juan Lopez, a body transporter based in McAllen, says he was called to a man’s home last month and was told the occupant had died of natural causes.
When he arrived a little less than an hour later, Lopez said he was informed it was a coronavirus-related death.
Espinoza says symptoms he asks when determining if a death was caused by COVID-19 are nausea, vomiting and shortness of breath.
“Especially if they were sick three, four, five days in advance, it’s very possible they had it,” he said.
The Justice of the Peace added that he does not necessarily trust that other family members are positive about COVID-19 when he makes his determination.
“This virus is really funny,” he said. ‘Bad can’t find it. Just like some people get it really easily, some people will never get it. It is difficult to make that determination. ”
Also, not all coronavirus-positive people who die are added to the COVID-19 killer, Melendez said.
A victim of car accidents who died of trauma in the wreckage but accidentally was positive for the virus would not be added to the list, he said, and also someone who was positive and died of natural causes would The COVID-19 was not related if only increased as a contributing factor.
Claims that COVID-19 numbers are inflated for financial gain, Melendez said, are categorically incorrect.
“There’s no extra charge for every diagnosis you make, so that’s nonsense,” he said.
Melendez also described reports of hospitals filling their coronavirus units with patients to make money as hogwash. He said there was simply no financial incentive for hospitals to keep COVID-19 patients at home longer than necessary.
‘They want to get the patient faster as opposed to later. They do not sit there and ‘milk’ the patient, because there is a magic fund somewhere that provides money for COVID, ‘he said. “It simply came to our notice then. that just does not exist. ”
