Colorado’s Democratic Gov. Jared Polis is pushing back against data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), disputing how the agency counts death from COVID-19.
According to the CDC, anyone who tested positive for the coronavirus during their time of death is counted as a COVID-19 death. Polis claims people want to know who died directly from coronavirus instead of those who happened to test positive after another cause of death.
Polis joined Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday after reports found 300 fewer people died in Colorado from the coronavirus than initially reported.
“One of the reasons we wanted to make sure we reported it out in a better way is to inspire confidence so that it wouldn’t be politicized, Chris. These are deaths that should not be politicized,” Polis said.
Polis explained how the CDC counts death by coronavirus in a different way than the state of Colorado.
“The CDC criteria include anyone who has died with COVID-19. What the people of Colorado, the people of the country, want to know how many people died of COVID-19. In our state about 900 have died from COVID-19 on their death certificate or from the attending physician. 1,100 have died with it. Those 200 in the middle might have been a contributing factor, but it wasn’t deemed the sole factor or the only factor in their death,” Polis said.
Trump praised Colorado for its reopening effort when Polis visited the White House last week.
“You’re both doing an excellent job, and it’s an honor to have you at the White House,” Trump said to both Polis and Republican North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
Unlike other Democratic governors, Polis has been relatively gracious of Trump’s efforts in combating the coronavirus. On Fox News Sunday, Polis said he will work with any president to ensure his state can reopen safely and the economy can thrive.
“I happen to be a Democrat. But, what I’ve said is he’s the President we have. I owe it to the people of my state who elected me to work with any president to really make sure we can save lives, get our economy going in our state,” Polis said. “We’re proud to be getting our economy going in a reasonably safe way. Stores have been open for a couple of weeks now in most areas in our state. We’re doing this thoughtfully, we’re doing this carefully, we value our partnership with the federal government. There’s a time for elections, there’s a time for politics, this isn’t it. It’s a time for managing the crisis together and I’m doing my best to get it done.”
