Friday, August 21, 2026

Study accuses Fauci of inflating COVID death risk

Anthony Fauci
Image – US Senate.

A researcher has renewed criticism of former top U.S. health official Anthony Fauci, arguing that his early public estimates of COVID-19 mortality significantly overstated the virus’s likely infection fatality rate (IFR).

The claims are outlined in a published paper titled Public Health Lessons Learned From Biases in Coronavirus Mortality Overestimation. Author Dr. Ron Brown contends that during the early stages of the pandemic, fatality estimates relied on confusion between two distinct epidemiological measures: the case fatality rate (CFR), which measures deaths among confirmed cases, and the infection fatality rate (IFR), which estimates deaths across all infected people, including those with mild or asymptomatic infections.



According to the paper, early COVID-19 outbreaks in China produced case fatality rates of around 2–3%, similar to those observed during severe influenza outbreaks. Brown said that, during congressional testimony in 2020, Fauci estimated the virus’s infection fatality rate at approximately 1% by adjusting the reported CFR, but did not explain the methodology behind that estimate.

The paper maintains that historical infection fatality rates for seasonal influenza are generally estimated at around 0.1–0.2%, and argues that COVID-19 should initially have been assessed against those benchmarks until stronger evidence became available. The author alleges that Fauci’s estimate overstated the likely IFR by roughly a factor of ten.

The paper also points to a New England Journal of Medicine article co-authored by Fauci, claiming it incorrectly described the 0.1% mortality rate for seasonal influenza as a case fatality rate rather than an infection fatality rate. This reflects a misunderstanding of the distinction between the two measures and has called for the publication to be corrected, said Brown.

As part of the paper, Brown posed two questions to Fauci: why he estimated COVID-19’s infection fatality rate at 1% despite historical influenza IFR data, and why the alleged error in the New England Journal of Medicine article has not been formally corrected.

Fauci has consistently defended the public health decisions made during the pandemic, stating they were based on the best available evidence at the time as scientific understanding of the virus rapidly evolved. The claims outlined in the paper represent the author’s interpretation and critique of those early estimates.

Support DTNZ

DTNZ is committed to bringing Kiwis independent, not-for-profit news. We're up against the vast resources of the legacy mainstream media. Help us in the battle against them by donating today.

No login required to comment. Name, email and web site fields are optional. Please keep comments respectful, civil and constructive. Moderation times can vary from a few minutes to a few hours. Comments may also be scanned periodically by Artificial Intelligence to eliminate trolls and spam.

8 COMMENTS

  1. Reminds me how Bloomfield said that the unvaccinated were 6 times more likely of catching the virus, more like the vaccinated were 6 times more likely. Being unvaccinated I did not catch any virus.

  2. Another of our home grown idiots, Auckland University “professor” of physics Shaun Hendy stated in March 202 that “Left unchecked Covid 19 could kill up to 60,000 kiwis, but the numbers show the power of aggressive controls, which could slash deaths to about 10,000.” Official figures give deaths from covid as 3,000 and as we know many of these people had co-existing disorders. The wildly inaccurate figure of 60,00 was arrived at via a modelling study. It has been truthfully said that the prime purpose of modelling studies is to make astrology look respectable.

  3. Public hanging required in the town square and he’s not the only one.
    There are a few from our country who need hanging in Aotea Square.
    It must be done publicly as it’s the only way people will wake up to the evil these people have committed.

  4. Remember the idiot, I think also from Auckland University wandering around with a I’m Triple Vaccinated teashirt.
    I wonder how thats worked out for him?.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Wellington
broken clouds
12.7 ° C
13.1 °
12.2 °
78 %
4.6kmh
68 %
Fri
14 °
Sat
15 °
Sun
13 °
Mon
12 °
Tue
14 °




Trending

Sport

Daily Life

Opinion