When you compare the death rate of, let’s say, Germany and Spain, there is a tremendous difference and you are left asking yourself why.

It has been pointed out that Spain has a greater percentage of older people but that cannot explain it away.

Yet, there also exists a disparity between different regions of Spain, which is where it becomes clear what the problem is: regions (and countries) using different systems for coming up with their death figures. The Spanish Central Government assumes that if you die whilst suffering from Covid-19, then you are included on the virus death toll, whereas in some regions of Spain and countries, if you were already suffering from a previous condition, then that is put down as the cause of death.

There is only one, fool-proof system and that is comparing the overall deaths in a country over the last five years in any March or April and comparing it with the 2020 figures. Don’t look for causes, just the number of deaths.

If you take the number of deaths over five years during March, excluding this year, and find the average, then compare it with the overall death figures for March 2020, then you can see how many extra deaths there were and be more than reasonably sure that those deaths were caused by Coronavirus.

If you prefer to take the last ten years to get a better average, then you will have to take into account population growth and factor it in.

However, no government will be willing to do this, we can reasonably assume; not in Spain, not in Germany, not in China and not in the USA.

(News/Editorial: Spain)