© CNN
CNN anchor Jake Tapper on Monday said it is misleading to count someone who is in the hospital for a car accident or a broken leg and has COVID as a COVID hospitalization.
"So the hospitals are still stretched thin because of this, so I am not trying to take away from that, but
if 40% in some hospitals, 40% of the people who have COVID don't necessarily have problematic COVID, they're there because they got in a car accident. They're there because, you know, they bumped their head and they're being included as in the hospital with COVID," Tapper said.
"
That number seems kind of misleading," he added.
"We're two years into this and we need the clearest picture possible," Tapper said. "
If someone is in the hospital with a broken leg and have asymptomatic COVID, that should not be counted as hospitalized with COVID, clearly."
Comment: An oddly salient and reasonable comment coming from Tapper who's
no champion for reason when it comes to COVID policies. Strange too that this clip was
posted to MSN with the addition of posts from those saying it took Tapper two years to figure out what everyone who's been paying any attention at all knew from the very beginning - the numbers bandied about by governments and medical hacks are artificially inflated to stoke fear and drive compliance with arbitrary government policies:
Conservative talk show host Clay Travis tweeted: "Anyone who has bothered to look at the data has, of course, known this for two years. "
In this clip, @JakeTapper is absolutely right that counting all people in the hospital WITH COVID as being there FOR COVID is wildly misleading -- especially since it applies to close to 50% -- but it's so striking how many arguments that were long taboo are now all being aired. https://t.co/3F6P7fxnJj
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 10, 2022
Media Research Center TV managing editor Brittany Hughes tweeted: "Imagine it taking you two years to figure this out."
Conservative strategist Greg Price said many have "turned on a dime" and "acknowledged the things 'conspiracy theorists' have been saying for two years were true."
In sharing the clip, journalist Glenn Greenwald said it "is absolutely right" that Tapper's description of counting all those in hospital with COVID as being there for COVID "is wildly misleading," adding "It's so striking how many arguments that were long taboo are now all being aired."
The Washington Post noted that Walensky's latest comments, which have been leapt on by figures on the right to argue against COVID mitigation measures, come as she sought media consultant advice on how to present a consistent message on the pandemic.
Walensky had previously faced criticism for telling ABC News it was "really encouraging" that 75 percent of vaccinated people who were dying from coronavirus had four or more comorbidities.
Some Twitter users said the comments were disrespectful toward disabled or chronically ill people. In response, Walensky later tweeted "We must protect people with comorbidities from severe #COVID19."
False hope, as I see it, there is an angle and we are not going to like it.