# What does Trump mean that the U.S. has one of the lowest covid mortality rates? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 17, 2020, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-trump-mean-that-the-u-s-has-one-of-the-lowest-covid-mortality-rates/915622 "2020-07-17T23:42:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2020, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-trump-mean-that-the-u-s-has-one-of-the-lowest-covid-mortality-rates/915622/22 "2020-07-24T09:46:42Z")
> [@Mr\_BinJu](#): > > If you die with Corona then you’ll be marked as a Corona death even though you died with a heart attack. I heard talk of even car crash deaths in Colorado and New York would mark you a Corona death if you had the disease. They’re marking every death Corona and the numbers are not accurate right now. For instance scientists believed we’d have 2million deaths in the first month. Can you cite _any_ of this crap? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2020, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-trump-mean-that-the-u-s-has-one-of-the-lowest-covid-mortality-rates/915622/23 "2020-07-24T10:10:11Z")
> [@rbroome](#): > > Trump is not interested in facts or truth. He is interested in giving his supporters ideas that allow them to continue supporting him. He is in the stage of keeping the investors on board until the deal is signed. He has been there many times before. Truth is not a factor. Giving his supporters another idea that allows them to continue on his side is everything. It doesn’t have to last-just last long enough. In other words, he is spewing **[bullshit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Bullshit)**: > _ **On Bullshit** _ is a 2005 book (originally a 1986 essay) by [philosopher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy) [Harry G. Frankfurt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Frankfurt) which presents a theory of [bullshit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit) that defines the concept and analyzes the applications of bullshit in the context of communication. Frankfurt determines that bullshit is speech intended to persuade without regard for truth. The liar cares about the truth and attempts to hide it; the bullshitter doesn’t care if what they say is true or false, but rather only cares whether their listener is [persuaded](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persuaded). ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2020, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-trump-mean-that-the-u-s-has-one-of-the-lowest-covid-mortality-rates/915622/24 "2020-07-24T12:56:25Z")
> [@Mr\_BinJu](#): > > If you die with Corona then you’ll be marked as a Corona death even though you died with a heart attack. With good reason in that case. The more they look, the more it appears that this coronavirus is more of an infection of the cardiovascular system, rather than just of the lungs. So it can cause strokes, heart attacks and other bad things. Here’s a cite, if you want one: > **[The Cardiovascular Impact of COVID-19](https://www.dicardiology.com/article/cardiovascular-impact-covid-19)** > > It was originally thought novel coronavirus (COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2) was primarily a respiratory disorder, but as larger numbers of patients contracted the virus, it quickly became clear it has many physiological manifestations. The impact of COVID-19... ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-trump-mean-that-the-u-s-has-one-of-the-lowest-covid-mortality-rates/915622/25 "2020-07-25T07:14:50Z")
It should be noted that this is also standard practice for measuring deaths from infectious diseases. e.g. Someone is admitted to hospital with the flu and they test positive for a strain which is known to be potentially deadly. They are also found to have a severe issue with their kidneys and soon their kidneys shut down and they die apparently from this latter ailment. AIUI the cause of death will likely mention the flu, and their death will be counted among the flu deaths for that season. It’s just simpler to do it that way, and while on the individual level this might be misleading, from the epidemiologists’ point of view over many thousands of cases, it’s a relatively small source of noise. It’s not a special new rule for covid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-trump-mean-that-the-u-s-has-one-of-the-lowest-covid-mortality-rates/915622.md?page=1)