Arizona's coronavirus death rate may be much higher than reported, experts say

[Mike 03]

ABC 15
Posted at 5:52 PM, May 14, 2020 and last updated 6:40 AM, May 15, 2020

PHOENIX — Following an ABC15 investigation into excess deaths, a nationally-respected doctor and researcher also believes that Arizona has likely had hundreds of more people die from COVID-19 than officially reported.

Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s hospital and a Harvard Medical School instructor, told ABC15 Thursday that based on predictive federal mortality data he believes there are more than 500 unexplained deaths above the state’s average.

“We know that most of these excess deaths are from COVID-19,” Faust said in a phone interview. “Very few are coming from other places.”

ABC15 contacted Faust last week in advance of an investigative report regarding a significant increase of excess deaths in Arizona for 2020.

Read more: https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/data-expert-says-arizonas-death-rate-from-covid-19-may-be-much-higher-than-reported

[ArizonaLib]

1. It figures - AZ death rate has always fluctuated between high 3% and 4.9%

while the national rate has risen from just over 1% near the end of March and is now 5.96% (for 3 days in a row) all according to Worldometers.info

If 500 more deaths were added to the existing 651 cumulative total, the rate would go to 8.74%, which would be higher than the national rate. I have been watching Arizona's death rate off and on throughout, and find it odd that the rate has taken so long to reach almost 5%.

Arizona has a high number of retirees (think Sun City, Fountain Hills, etc.) so I would think the rate would be above the national rate most of the time.