Pennsylvania’s death toll from Covid-19 jumped by 276 people on Sunday, but not because more people died from the disease; it’s because the state has changed how they’re counting. And many critics are dubious of the totals.
The Department of Health says the new total reflects a compilation of data collected through different reporting systems that now include co-called “electronic and probable-cause” deaths. Health Secretary Rachel Levine said some deaths are reported with several causes of death, with Covid-19 listed among them, maybe as the fourth or fifth cause of death. Epidemiologists then analyze the cases to determine if Covid-19 can be listed as the cause of death.
Pennsylvania is using its own version of the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System. The latest figure reported is 1,112 deaths statewide, four of them in Indiana County. The county now has 51 confirmed cases of Covid-19.
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