Washington State Counting Gunshot Victims Among Its Coronavirus Deaths

On Thursday, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) confirmed a report by the Freedom Foundation that they have included those who tested positive for COVID-19 but died of other causes, including gunshot injuries, in their coronavirus death totals. This calls into serious question the state’s calculations of residents who have actually died of the CCP pandemic.

From the Freedom Foundation:

The Freedom Foundation’s original report, based on DOH documents and statements provided to the Foundation, concluded that, of the 828 COVID-19 deaths reported as of May 8:

• 681 (82 percent) “list some variation of ‘COVID-19’ in one of the causes of death” on the death certificate;
• 41 (5 percent) of the death certificates do not list COVID-19 as a cause of death, but indicate it was a “significant condition contributing to death.”
• 106 (13 percent) deaths involved persons who had previously tested positive for COVID-19 but did not have the virus listed anywhere on their death certificate as either causing or contributing to death.

When asked about the Foundation’s report at a press conference Monday, Gov. Jay Inslee dismissed it as “dangerous,” “disgusting” and “malarkey.” He further accused the Freedom Foundation of “fanning these conspiracy claims from the planet Pluto” and not caring about the lives lost to COVID-19.

Yet DOH officials largely confirmed the main findings of the Foundation’s report in Thursday’s briefing.

So let’s review. Democratic Governor Jay Inslee, who inexplicably ran for president last year (yes, really, it happened—the featured image in this article proves it), called out the Freedom Foundation for doing math, saying they’re from Pluto, and then acknowledged that they did the math right.

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Inslee and his administration have used these figures to decide when to reopen Washington’s economy. The obvious problem is determining if those numbers are accurate, and how great the need is to keep things in lockdown.

Jason Rantz, a Seattle radio host, broke down the problems this presents:

Inslee is making decisions about our phase-in plan to reopen the economy in real time. But the data he’s using will change. The Freedom Foundation argues the Washington coronavirus deaths is inflated by 13%.

While one can easily understand why it’s difficult to accurately count deaths in real time during a pandemic, Inslee is using the data to make decisions in real time. He’s not waiting six months to get the data finalized.

Why is that important? Part of his guidance for reopening the economy (or starting Phase 2 early) is contingent on having less than 10 cases of cornavirus per 100,000 residents. What if we see a surge of new Washington coronavirus deaths? Inslee changes guidelines on a dime. One coronavirus-positive gun shot victim or a car crash fatality with coronavirus-positive victims could pause a Phase 2 start for a county. That has serious economic implications.

Of course, Inslee has continued to give bizarre strawman arguments about continuing the lockdown orders. Rantz notes that Inslee argued a point nobody made in a Sunday interview:

“We have some politicians saying ‘oh these are… most of the people are over the age of 60 who lose their lives so we just really shouldn’t worry about that too much,’” Inslee told [Brandi] Kruse [a reporter], quoting a nonexistent politician before setting himself up as a hero. “I take extreme exception to that position. I believe that it is not consistent with any version of humanity and as a 69-year-old I believe that 69-year-olds can actually be productive.”

Later, Inslee reversed course:

Inslee said it would be “impossible” to offer isolation for the elderly, while relaxing the stay-at-home order for others.

“We’re not going to take people, once they reach age 65, and put them on a desert island alone, segregated forever from our society,” Inslee ridiculously responded.

What in the world is he talking about? Seriously: what in the world is he talking about? If this doesn’t make any sense it’s because literally no one has said that. No one’s even come close to saying that. Kruse pushed back, telling him no one is actually making that claim.

“No, we’re not going to permanently tell people over the age of 60 or 65 that they’re no longer part of our community,” Inslee mused, again citing a plan literally no politician (or anyone?) has ever uttered.

Kruse would interject and again explain that no one is saying that. Inslee would then snap and have a fit: “Brandi, if you would like to have a discussion, I would like to finish my point.”

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The whole thing is bizarre, and not exactly presidential. Like many of his Democratic counterparts, Inslee has been all over the map with his rulings, his requirements to reopen, and his real motivations.