The
REPORT ON WEEKLY DEATHS IN SOUTH AFRICA 1 JANUARY - 7 JULY 2020 (WEEK 27) was released by the South African Medical Research Council on 14 July 2020.
BusinessDay reported on this yesterday). The SAMRC report attempts to show that the coronavirus pandemic has led to almost 11,000 fatalities,
more than three times the official death count. Our view is that this claim is false and that simple and logical adjustments to the data for known reporting issues cause the excess fatality number to align much more closely with recorded COVID-19 deaths.
Quoted verbatim, this is the claim made about excess deaths: "โIn the period, 6 May - 7 July 2020, there has been an excess of 10,994 deaths from natural causes of persons 1+ year old when using a revised base accounting for lower mortality during lockdown.โ"
This figure of โ10,994โ is remarkable when compared to the reported Covid-19 deaths for the same period, amounting to โ3,354. โ(Cumulative reported Covid-19 deaths numberedโ โ3,502 on 7 July, less the cumulative reported Covid-19 deaths of 148 on 5 May).
It might be tempting to conclude that approximately 30% of the true Covid-19 deaths are actually being reported and we may be significantly understating the true Covid-19 deaths. If that were true, it would of course go some way to explaining the chasm between the experienced reality and the government's "Epi-model", as argued during the [Western Cape modelling presentation on 29 June].
The data that is being used in this report comes from the population register, which is maintained by Home Affairs. When someone dies in South Africa, the family of the deceased must report the death at Home Affairs, a Police Station or a recognised undertaker who then transmits that data to Home Affairs.
This means that in order for a death to be recorded, people need to be able to move around, and the places they need to visit to report the death, as well as Home Affairs, need to be open for business. This is patently hindered by lockdown.
Comment: Now it's all about 'cases' and a perfect cover to continue with the dismantling of any freedoms you migh have remaining. See also: