WHO Misreported Coronavirus Mortality Rate in Early March
March 19, 2020
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported in a press conference on March 3rd that the mortality rate for the coronavirus was much more severe than the seasonal flu.
However, as reported by Joe Holt at The Gateway Pundit, Dr. Tedros, a former minister of foreign affairs in Ethiopia, used two different mathematical ratios to arrive at this statement. The comparison was false. In fact, recent seasonal flu outbreaks had been much more severe than the coronavirus.
Holt reports:
The actual data shows that the mortality rate for those who had the flu (10%) is almost twice as high than for those with the coronavirus (3.8%).
The two rates are like comparing apples to oranges. By doing so the coronavirus fatality rate is way overstated when compared to the flu and the WHO and the media has created a worldwide crisis and panic by reporting these rates simultaneously!
The coronavirus is not more fatal than the flu based on current data available. It is much less fatal than the flu based on current data.
Holt accused the media of “lying again,” but news outlets were following statements by Dr. Tedros. The World Health Organization employs top epidemiologists and it is their job to measure the public effects of disease. From Dr. Tedros’s bio:
Born in the city of Asmara, Eritrea, Dr Tedros holds a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in Community Health from the University of Nottingham and a Master of Science (MSc) in Immunology of Infectious Diseases from the University of London. Dr Tedros is globally recognised as a health scholar, researcher, and diplomat with first-hand experience in research, operations, and leadership in emergency responses to epidemics.
Is it possible that a world health leader of such experience in epidemiology made an innocent error of this magnitude?
According to a Pew poll, a majority of Americans believe the media has exaggerated the risk of coronavirus and public health officials have been trustworthy. This is not so. The media have been following the lead of government officials.
