Covid Study Author Says Yahoo Misrepresented His Findings With Claim DeSantis Undercounted Covid Deaths

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The lead author of a study cited in a Yahoo News story about Covid-19 took to National Review on Tuesday to claim the publication had misrepresented his work.

The initial story authored by Yahoo‘s Alexander Nazaryan, titled, “Florida COVID numbers face new scrutiny,” suggested Florida had undercounted deaths related to Covid-19 by 4,924 between March and September 2020. Nazaryan claimed “researchers” said the deaths “should have been counted … but for the most part were ruled as having been caused by something else.”

However, Moosa Tatar, the lead author of the study Nazaryan cited, told NRO his work had been misrepresented. “The impact of Covid-19 on mortality is significantly greater than the official Covid-19 data suggest,” Tatar said. “But we need further research to determine specific reasons for this. These deaths may have been directly or indirectly associated with COVID-19.”

Despite imposing relatively light restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic, Florida has reported a similar number of cases of the virus — 9,556 infections per 100,000 residents, according to a New York Times counter — than states that implemented strict rules, including New York (9,581) and California (9,279). New Jersey leads the nation in terms of virus-related deaths with 276 per 100,000 residents, followed by New York at 255. That figure in Florida stands at 155.

Critics of Florida’s approach have sought to explain the discrepancy. Nazaryan asserted the state’s approach “was widely criticized as reckless,” and suggested that Tatar represented a critic of the state at odds with numerous health experts.

“You could’ve never gotten the coronavirus, delayed needed health care, and died from diabetes-related complications,” Jason Salemi, an epidemiologist at the University of South Florida, told Yahoo. “That’s still indirectly tied to the pandemic. I don’t think there’s anything egregious going on with the data. I would know. I am just constantly in these data.”

Asked whether there was a reason to doubt Florida’s numbers, Lauren Rossen, a statistician at the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, concurred, telling Yahoo, “Florida doesn’t stand out to me.”