I was exploring the CDC FluView data and juxtaposing them against the state's own stats from COVIDtracker.
At the end of week 14 (April 5) and week 15 (April 12), in NY, there were 4,159 and 9,385 total COVID-19 deaths, meaning that during week 15 5,226 people died from COVID-19.
According to the CDC FluView data (which helpfully provides total weekly deaths from flu, pneumonia, as well as all causes), the TOTAL number of deaths in the whole state of NY that week was... 3,940. This means that 133% of people in NY died from COVID-19 during week 15. As GEOTUS says, "Sad!"
Now, jokes aside, CDC is slow, and currently is processing week 16 data, and while week 15 FluView data are labeled as ">100%" processed, they are likely to increase, perhaps substantially. Week 14 data though -- much less likely.
Yet, this analysis produces similarly weird results for week 14. At the end of week 13 (March 29), there were 965 COVID-19 deaths, meaning that 3,194 people died during week 14. The total number of deaths that week in the entire NY state was 3,373. This means that 95% of all deaths during week 14 were attributed to COVID-19.
Now, what if the number of deaths increased 10-fold due to a raging pandemic, I asked myself (as any reasonable person would)?
No, it did not. In the prior 4 years, there were, on average, 1,991 (+/- 60) total deaths during week 14 in NY.
Thus, at (3,373-3,194=) 179, the total number of COVID-unrelated deaths in NY during week 14 decreased by 91%.
Make your own conclusions.
Sources: