An outfit whose statistical models were used to justify early Covid-19 lockdowns is now arguing that the true death toll of the pandemic is far higher than the official numbers – and closer to their own apocalyptic predictions.
Covid-19 has killed more than 900,000 Americans and over 6.9 million people worldwide, the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) claimed on Thursday, citing their own statistical models based on excess mortality.
By contrast, official figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University list 3.24 million deaths globally, of which 580,000 are in the US, as of May 6.
This morning, we're releasing a major change in our COVID-19 model (➡️https://t.co/5biAggRz1T). We're now incorporating excess mortality to approximate the total COVID-19 death rate worldwide. pic.twitter.com/IehmwuuaKB
— Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) (@IHME_UW) May 6, 2021
IHME chief Dr. Christopher Murray explained in a series of videos that they used a “variety of statistical methods” to determine excess mortality, which was then weighed against six other factors to calculate whether it would have been due to the coronavirus or other causes.
