The nation recently passed a grim pandemic marker when the COVID-19 “death toll†reached 100,000. But the fact is, there are widely varying estimates of deaths and illness associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and their accuracy has become a source of vigorous debate. The variety of these estimates should serve as a reminder that the pandemic’s consequences are more complex than any single number can represent. It also highlights several uncomfortable yet inescapable facts about measuring pandemic morbidity and mortality.
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