Sen. Joni Ernst Says She’s ‘Skeptical’ of High Coronavirus Death Toll

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Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) said Monday she was “skeptical” of the number of reported deaths related to the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that health-care providers have financial incentive to inflate the figures.

“These health-care providers and others are reimbursed at a higher rate if COVID is tied to it, so what do you think they’re doing?” Ernst said in response to a question from a man at a campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa.

Ernst expanded on the remark in response to a question from the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, saying, “They’re thinking there may be 10,000 or less deaths that were actually singularly COVID-19. … I’m just really curious. It would be interesting to know that.”

More than 184,000 Americans are dead as a result of complications stemming from the coronavirus as of September 2, according to data compiled by John Hopkins University. The numbers stem partly from data collected by the Centers for Disease Control, which includes both “confirmed” and “probable” deaths related to the coronavirus.

Many states do not count “probable” cases of the virus in confirmed death totals, leading to discrepancies in how data is reported — and skepticism from some observers about the accuracy of the figures, including President Donald Trump, who on Sunday retweeted an anonymous Twitter user suggesting the number of Americans who have died as a result of the coronavirus was just 6 percent of the reported total.

That figure was derived from a CDC study finding the coronavirus was the sole cause of death in just more than 9,000 deaths, while the other 94 percent included comorbidities, which are complicating or contributing poor health conditions. Some health officials — including Dr. Anthony Fauci — insist that data trackers should not distinguish between the two categories.