While everyone is concerned about the #Coronavirus pandemic, it turns out the US is also (coincidentally) going through a #PneumoniaEpidemic at the moment.

* CDC data suggests there is a likely 13k+ shortfall in reported #COVID19 deaths in the US over the last 5 weeks.

Another interesting factoid I dug up while analyzing the official CDC data.

If you look at the worst 3 week period for recorded pneumonia deaths since 2014:

2018 -> 16,182
2015 -> 16,348
2020 -> 22,685 (last 3 weeks)

* Random coincidence of course.

The more I think about this the more I realize there's a very important political story being played out here.

It's all about appearances, not accuracy.

It's about spinning relative success.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/495295-florida-ordered-coroners-to-stop-releasing-coronavirus-death-data-report#.XqpgjmmFZ94.twitter

"U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Is Far Higher Than Reported, C.D.C. Data Suggests"

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/28/us/coronavirus-death-toll-total.html

* Right wing media machine is trying to push the opposite narrative, but you can't hide the bodies.

Quick update to the #PneumoniaEpidemic graph.

At this stage CDC data suggests there are ~25k deaths above normal rates, which have been classified as "Due to Pneumonia" over the 6 week period starting late March.

#Covid19 #NotSuspiciousAtAll

Added week 18 to the #PneumoniaEpidemic graph.

30k+ excess deaths attributed to pneumonia over the 7 week period starting late March.

*Insert your own narrative here*