In other news, remember when the Trump regime led by Jared Kushner balked at a $1 billion deal to buy ventilators from GM? HHS signed a deal with GM today that will cost slightly more than that at $1.1 billion.
Smart!
Meanwhile, officials in New York say the virus death toll could jump significantly as they include people who died at home without being tested for the virus.
Emergency Medical Service data first reported by Gothamist suggests the undercount of individuals who have likely died from the virus is massive. On Tuesday alone, 256 people were pronounced dead at home across the five boroughs. Until this month, about 25 people in New York City were found dead in their homes on a typical day, suggesting that most of Tuesday’s calls were related to the outbreak that has already killed over 5,400 people across the state and infected 140,386 more.
I assume there have been deaths everywhere that weren't correctly attributed to the virus because they were never tested.
Finally, health officials says the greatest risk factor for dying from the virus may be conditions connected to obesity such as diabetes. They say that might explain why the death rate in New Orleans is so much higher than anywhere else including New York.
New Orleans residents suffer from obesity, diabetes and hypertension at rates higher than the national average, conditions that doctors and public health officials say can make patients more vulnerable to COVID-19, the highly contagious respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.
Some 97% of those killed by COVID-19 in Louisiana had a pre-existing condition, according to the state health department. Diabetes was seen in 40% of the deaths, obesity in 25%, chronic kidney disease in 23% and cardiac problems in 21%.
I'm sure most of you are being careful in any case, but if you have any of these conditions this could be useful information.