NY Post
The coronavirus death toll in a California county has been cut by 25 percent — after officials found that some fatalities were not a “direct result” of the virus. Alameda County on Friday issued a corrected death toll that puts the total number of fatalities at 1,223, significantly down from its previous count of 1,634. “Alameda County previously included any person who died while infected with the virus in the total COVID-19 deaths for the County,” health officials said in a statement. “Aligning with the State’s definition will require Alameda County to report as COVID-19 deaths only those people who died as a direct result of COVID-19, with COVID-19 as a contributing cause of death, or in whom death caused by COVID-19 could not be ruled out.” Health officials said they had begun counting any person who was positive for the virus at the time of their death as part of the official tally before the state came up with a new definition late last year.
