[News] Hurricane Maria's Death Toll in Puerto Rico Almost 5, 000, Not Official 64

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Hurricane-Marias-Death-Toll-in-Puerto-Rico-Almost-5000-Not-Official-64-Study-20180529-0017.html 



  Hurricane Maria's Death Toll in Puerto Rico Almost 5,000, Not Official 64

Published 29 May 2018
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According to a research team led by scientists at the *Harvard* T.H. 
Chan School of Public Health almost 5,000 people died in *Puerto Rico* 
due to reasons related to September's category 4 *Hurricane Maria*. The 
new estimate stands in stark contrast to the official*death toll* of 64.

The study published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine 
surveyed 3,299 randomly chosen households in the island and asked the 
occupants about their experiences, who reported a total of 38 deaths.

The scientists then extrapolated that finding to Puerto Rico’s total 
population of 3.4 million and subtracted deaths recorded during that 
same period in 2016.

Using that methodology, researchers found that between Sept. 20 and Dec. 
31 there were 4,648 “excess deaths” that would not have occurred if 
Puerto Rico hadn’t been plunged into a prolonged disaster after the 
hurricane.

The official death toll only includes deaths directly related to the 
storm. However, several studies report higher numbers.

The federal response to the environmental disaster has been criticized 
by many within and outside of the island for being unable to secure 
basic services, such as electricity.

The study notes that for more than 100 days 83 percent of Puerto Rican 
households remained without electricity 
<https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Post-Hurricane-Puerto-Rico-Blackout-Second-Largest-in-the-World-Report-20180416-0007.html>.

"In our survey, interruption of medical care was the primary cause of 
sustained high mortality rates in the months following the hurricane," 
the study states. Infrastructural damage made it difficult for hospitals 
and doctors to provide care, and for people to get to the doctor or the 
hospital to seek medical care.

According to the survey one-third of the total deaths in the months 
following the storm were caused by interruption in health care provision.

The study allowed researchers to conclude that the mortality rate in the 
island jumped by 62 percent in the three months immediately after the storm.

The United States' National Public Radio reported that the Puerto Rico 
Department of Health didn't respond to requests for comment about the study.

-- 
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