PUBLIC
PUBLIC HEALTH HAS A COVID-19 WEBSITE. YOU'VE PROBABLY TAKEN
A PEAK AT IT AT LEAST
ONCE OVER THESE LAST
FEW PANDEMIC MONTHS.
ON IT...THEY BREAK
DOWN COVID-RELATED
DEATHS ACROSS THE
STATE.
AS OF JUST A BIT
AGO...THEY COUNTED 100
CONFIRMED CASES AND
22 PROBABLE...FOR A
TOTAL OF 122 SINCE WE
RECORDED
RECORDED OUR FIRST BACK IN MARCH. I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE
THINKING...PROBABLE?
WHAT'S THAT? DON'T
THEY KNOW HOW
SOMEONE DIED?
WELL, YES, THEY DO.
OR HOW ABOUT THIS
QUESTION WE GET A
LOT...HOW DO WE KNOW
THE REPORTED COVID
DEATHS ARE ACCURATE?
WHAT ABOUT WHEN
SOMEONE DIES OF A
HEART ATTACK, AND THEY
STILL COUNTED AS A
COVID-RELATED DEATH?
TO GET THE ANSWER TO
THOSE AND OTHER
COVID-RELATED DEATH
QUESTIONS...WE ASKED
DEPUTY STATE
EPIDEMIOLOGIST DOCTOR
KATHRYN TURNER TO
EXPLAIN HOW WE
ACCOUNT FOR COVID
FATALITIES. "WE'RE DOING THE BEST
WE
WE CAN
WE CAN TO
WE CAN TO REALISTICALLY TO COUNT THE DEATHS THAT ARE RELATED TO
COVID-19 AND I WANT TO
BE REALLY CLEAR ABOUT
WHAT THAT WORD IS, IT'S
COVID-19-RELATED. AND
WHAT THAT MEANS IS
MAYBE A PERSON HAS
SOME OTHER UNDERLYING
CONDITIONS, BUT HAVING
THE INFECTION OF
COVID-19 ULTIMATELY
CAUSED THE DEATH. IT
DOESN'T MEAN THEY
DIDN'T DIE OF A HEART
ATTACK FOR INSTANCE,
BUT WITHOUT THAT VIRAL
INFECTION THEY MAY NOT
HAVE DIED OF THE HEART
ATTACK OR SOMETHING
LIKE THAT SO."
"IF
"IF IT'S
"IF IT'S JUST A NOTE ON THE DEATH CERTIFICATE THAT THIS PERSON TESTED
POSITIVE 3 MONTHS AGO
OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT,
THEY'RE NOT GOING TO BE
COUNTED AS A COVID-19
DEATH."
"OK, I'M SURE YOU, JUST
AS MUCH AS ANYBODY
ELSE, GET TIRED OF
HEARING THESE KIND OF
RAMPANT THEORIES OUT
THERE ABOUT THIS, HOW
DO YOU FEEL ABOUT
THEM?"
THEM?"
"WHAT
"WHAT I
"WHAT I WOULD SAY IS THAT WE'RE STILL LEARNING NEW THINGS
EVERYDAY AND THAT IS
AN UNCOMFORTABLE
PLACE FOR ANYONE TO BE.
WHEN YOU THINK YOU
KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON
WITH THE VIRUS, AND
THEN NEW INFORMATION
IS RELEASED, IT CAN SEEM
LIKE IT'S CHANGES
EVERYDAY AND NO ONE
SEEMS TO KNOW WHAT'S
GOING
GOING ON
GOING ON AND TO A CERTAIN EXTENT THAT'S CORRECT WE ARE
LEARNING NEW
INFORMATION EVERYDAY,
THE SCIENCE IS EVOLVING
AND WE HAVE TO EVOLVE
WITH IT AND WHEN YOU
FEEL LIKE YOU DON'T HAVE
EVERY PIECE OF INFO
THEN THE HUMAN BEING
IS GOING TO TRY AND
CONNECT THE DOTS EVEN
IF
IF YOU
IF YOU CAN'T CONNECT ALL THE DOTS WITH SCIENCE QUITE YET."
"I THINK IT'S HUMAN
NATURE TO TRY TO FIND
THE ANSWER TO THE
QUESTIONS THAT YOU
HAVE AND SOMETIMES IN
SCIENCE WE DON'T HAVE
THE ANSWER TO THE
QUESTION."
"IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE
MORE
MORE THAN
MORE THAN ONE CAUSE OF DEATH ON A DEATH CERTIFICATE?"
"YES IT IS..."
"THERE ARE DIFFERENT
SECTIONS OF DEATH
CERTIFICATES, THERE'S THE
IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF
DEATH, THERE'S THE
UNDERLYING CAUSE OF
DEATH, THERE'S
SIGNIFICANT CONDITIONS
LEADING TO DEATH."
"IN OUR DEFINITION IF
IT'S EITHER A
CONTRIBUTING CAUSE OR
ABOVE THEN WE ARE
COUNTING IT AS A COVID
RELATED DEATH."
"LET'S SAY IT IS FLU
SEASON, YOU GET THE
FLU, THAT LEADS TO
PNEUMONIA, BUT THEN
BECAUSE YOUR BODY IS
FIGHTING OFF
PNEUMONIA, YOU COULD
DIE
DIE OF
DIE OF A
DIE OF A STROKE, BUT STILL BE CHARTED AS A FLU DEATH. AM I KIND OF
ON THE SAME LEVEL
THERE?"
"YES, IT DEPENDS ON THE
SITUATION BUT WHAT YOU
JUST DESCRIBED, YOUR
IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF
DEATH WOULD BE STROKE
BUT YOUR UNDERLYING
CAUSE OF DEATH WOULD
BE PNEUMONIA, AND A
SIGNIFICANT
CONTRIBUTING FACTOR
WOULD BE INFLUENZA."
"IT HAS TO BE A
SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE
PATIENT'S ILLNESS."
"YEAH AND I THINK THE
OTHER IMPORTANT
OTHER IMPORTANT
MESSAGE
MESSAGE IS WE ARE NOT DOING ANYTHING DIFFERENT WITH
CORONAVIRUS THAN WE
WOULD DO WITH
INFLUENZA, THEN WE
WOULD DO WITH
PNEUMONIA. IT'S
ESSENTIALLY THE SAME
PROCESS IT'S JUST A
DIFFERENT VIRUS THAT
WE'RE COUNTING
AND NOBODY
COMPLAINS ABOUT OUR
STATS FOR INFLUENZA
EVERY YEAR SO...
I HEAR YA!"
DOCTOR
DOCTOR TURNER WANTED TO BE CLEAR...SHE IS NOT AN
EXPERT ON
NOSOLOGY...WHICH IS THE
CLASSIFICATION OF
DISEASES.
SHE SAYS THERE'S A
WHOLE DIVISION OF
WELL-TRAINED
PROFESSIONALS THAT ARE
VERY PRECISE ABOUT
WHAT THEY PUT ON A
DEATH
CERRTIFICATE...BEAUSE IT IS
AN IMPORTANT, LEGAL
DOCUMENT, AFTER ALL.
BUT SHE CERTIANLY
KNOWS HOW THE
REPORTING SYSTEM
WORKS IN IDAHO.
A PHYSICIAN CAN CERTIFY
A DEATH AND SO CAN A
CORONER.
AND THAT CERTIFICATION
PROCESS CAN TAKE
HOURS, OR DAYS...AND UP
TO WEEKS...DEPENDING
ON THE DEPTHS OF THE
INVESTIGATION.
BUT DOCTER TURNER
SAYS THE STATE'S
ELECTRONIC RECORD
SYSTEM WHEN IT COMES
TO DEATHS IS PRETTY UP-
TO-DATE.
THEY GET THEIR COVID-
RELATED DEATH DATA
FAIRLY QUICKLY...USUALLY
WITHIN 24-72 HOURS
AND IT'S COUNTED ON
THE COVID WEBSITE.
THE PANDEMIC HAS
CHANGED NOTHING IN
THAT PROCESS...DEATHS
THAT PROCESS...DEATHS