Struggling Biden Admin Prepares to Drastically Change How COVID Hospitalizations Are Counted
As the Biden administration deals with poll numbers it does not like, it is trying to find a way to generate some better COVID-19 numbers, according to a new report.
Politico reported that the administration is looking to recalculate who gets counted as a COVID-19 hospitalization case. The report was based on what Politico called “two senior officials familiar with the matter.”
The action comes after a Pew Research poll found President Joe Biden’s approval rating at 41 percent. Pew noted that Biden’s approval rating on the coronavirus pandemic tumbled from 65 percent in March 2021 to 44 percent in January.
Data has been a battleground since the dawn of the pandemic, with some critics claiming that many cases listed as COVID-19 have been wrongly classified.
For example, on Monday, data supplied by the office of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul showed that between 30 and 54 percent of patients counted as COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state actually entered a facility for some other health issue, and only tested positive after admission.
The Biden administration is now trying to report that kind of data nationally so it can use lower numbers to drive coronavirus policy, according to Politico.
The outlet reported that officials from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are trying to distinguish between those who enter a hospital due to COVID-19 and those who test positive but entered for another reason.
The end result could be that the official COVID-19 numbers show fewer hospitalizations.
Eric Topol, professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research and former advisory board member of the COVID Tracking Project, said separating cases will not be easy.
“You need a panel of experts to review the cases to adjudicate if a hospitalization is for a person who came in for COVID or with COVID,” Topol said.
The review of the data is expected to take months.
Some said accurate COVID-19 numbers have been a long time coming.
“Now that Biden is in charge, they want to make it look like they’ve solved COVID,” commentator Lauren Chen tweeted. “Remember how people who made that distinction a few months ago were called science-deniers/murderers?”
Now that Biden is in charge, they want to make it look like they’ve solved COVID
So now they’ll differentiate between hospitalizations WITH COVID & hospitalizations FROM COVID
Remember how people who made that distinction a few months ago were called science-deniers/murderers? https://t.co/LowqdEScow
— Lauren Chen (@TheLaurenChen) February 7, 2022
Biden WH (correctly) distinguishing between those hospitalized *for* covid and those who test positive there is my favorite bit of “misinformation no wait it’s just information” yet. Biden go on Rogan! https://t.co/FX8fGoOTnf
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) February 8, 2022
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky has said hospitalization and death rates are key to lifting existing restrictions. She said last week that hospitalization rates are “still quite high,” according to Politico.
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