Dr. Dobbs pushes back on viral 6% myth, says MS deaths way up in August
State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs continued to push back on the recently viral claim that only a small fraction of people included in the coronavirus death toll actually died of the virus.
During a webinar with State Epidemiologist Paul Byers and Mississippi State Medical Association President W. Mark Horne, Dobbs explained that death certificates commonly list multiple factors that contribute to a death.
A death certificate for a person who died of coronavirus could list, for example, respiratory failure caused by COVID-19, Dobbs and Horne said. That wouldn’t mean that the patient didn’t actually die from COVID-19.
“This thing that only 6% of death certificates had COVID only… is the pinnacle of preposterous,” Dobbs said.
Dobbs had made a similar point earlier this week in an interview with SuperTalk Mississippi.
“If COVID kills your lungs and you die, COVID killed you. If COVID kills your kidney and your heart and you die, COVID killed you,” Dobbs said.
During the livestream Friday afternoon, Dobbs also shared statistics on Mississippi’s excess deaths in the month of August. This figure explains the number of deaths beyond what has typically been recorded during that time period, and can indicate an unusual event leading to additional deaths— such as the effects of a novel and lethal disease.
From 2017 to 2019, Dobbs said, Mississippi saw an average of about 600 deaths per week in August. In August 2020, it saw about 800 deaths per week.
“It’s a massive increase,” Dobbs said. “There’s no way to deny that COVID is killing a lot of folks.”
Beyond excess deaths, other statistics like hospital crowding, support the conclusion that the coronavirus is seriously affecting Mississippi.
“It’s all consistent,” Dobbs said.
Signs of progress?
Dobbs said hospitalizations are down across the state, from about 160 per day to 60. He showed a graph that illustrates the rate of new cases declining since Aug. 1.
“Whatever we did the first week of August, whatever we did then, we should keep doing it,” Dobbs said.
“Oh, I think that’s when we had the mask mandate,” he joked.
Gov. Tate Reeves issued the mask mandate on Aug. 4. Earlier this week, he extended it again, until Sept. 14.
Dobbs said there had been a slight uptick in new cases among college and school-aged children.
“But to be honest, it’s gone better than I thought,” he said.
Since school started, Mississippi districts have recorded 766 cases among students and 482 among parents, according to the most recent report from the state health department.
Schools in Jackson and Harrison County have reported the largest numbers of outbreaks and positive cases in the state.
