With all of the news about the number of deaths attributed to COVID-19, have you ever wondered about how the overall death rate in 2020 compares with that of prior years?

LifeSiteNews.com writer Michael Haynes wrote on November 27 that Dr. Genevieve Brand, the Assistant Director for MS in Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University gave a video lecture in which she examined the deaths due to COVID-19 and deaths overall in the US through September. Her analysis found that COVID-19 has resulted in no excess deaths.

Briand’s lecture, using data drawn from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website found:
• The deaths of older people stayed about the same before and after COVID-19
• The percentages of deaths among all age groups remain relatively the same
• COVID-19-related deaths have exceeded deaths from heart diseases – unusual since heart disease has always prevailed as the leading cause of deaths
• When compared with 2018, 2020 has not had the expected drastic increase across all causes of death – in fact, there was a significant decrease in heart disease and other causes of death
• The total decrease in deaths by other causes almost exactly equals the increase in deaths by COVID-19 – perhaps due to the recategorization of the cause of deaths
• By the CDC’s own account, in this pandemic, deaths of children have been less than in each of the last five flu seasons

The university removed an article written about her findings published in the online version of the Johns Hopkins University newsletter. Their reason? “It was being used to support false and dangerous inaccuracies about the impact of the pandemic.”  You can read their full reasons on their siite.

Writing for the American Institute for Economic Research, Ethan Yang notes that Briand’s study is still being vetted but feels that Briand’s argument should be examined and discussed.

He contends that, if true, the reports of COVID-19 deaths:

“have caused mass hysteria and misinformed public policy. Closing down communities to fight a virus that according to the data, has had no significant contribution to total deaths, reduces our overall capacity to build a healthy society."

“Lockdowns have resulted in severe damage to our capacity to improve the general health of society. From the catastrophic economic damage that lowers the standard of living for everyone to surgeries being deemed “unessential,” our current policies are not helping in preventing deaths in general; they are likely leading to more. Suicides and substance abuse are up, mental and physical health are down, all due to lockdowns.”

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