As Iowa sees a sharp spike in coronavirus cases, Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican in a tight race for re-election, echoed a debunked conspiracy theory that Covid-19 deaths were being greatly inflated and suggested that health care providers had a financial motive to falsify cases.
Ms. Ernst said she was “so skeptical” of the government’s national statistics about virus fatalities during a visit on Monday to Waterloo, a city in northeast Iowa.
“They’re thinking there may be 10,000 or less deaths that were actually singularly Covid-19,” Ms. Ernst said. “I’m just really curious. It would be interesting to know that.”
Ms. Ernst’s comments seemed to repeat a false claim spread by President Trump on Twitter over the weekend, which the company removed for violating its rules against sharing disinformation because it is linked to the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory.
The claim, retweeted by Mr. Trump and spread widely by others on social media, inaccurately said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “quietly updated the Covid number to admit that only 6%” of deaths — or about 9,000 people — “actually died from Covid.”
The claim was apparently based on a C.D.C. data table updated last week showing 161,332 death certificates that listed Covid-19 as a cause of death. In 6 percent of cases, Covid-19 was the only cause of death. The other 94 percent included underlying conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes.
But as health experts have repeatedly emphasized, it is a misreading of the data to suggest that a person infected with the virus who had other health problems, or comorbidities, did not die of Covid-19.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, responded on Tuesday to Mr. Trump and others who have tried to minimize fatalities based on death certificates.
“That does not mean that someone who has hypertension or diabetes who dies of Covid didn’t die of Covid-19. They did,” Dr. Fauci said. “It’s not 9,000 deaths from Covid-19, it’s 180-plus-thousand deaths,” he said, adding that there should “not be any confusion about that.”
On Wednesday, Ms. Ernst walked back her skepticism over the death toll.
“Over 180,000 Americans have died because of Covid-19," she said in a statement issued by her Senate office. “What matters is that we are getting the resources to Iowa that are needed to fight this virus and continuing to support our health care workers on the front lines, and that’s what I’m focused on.”
Ms. Ernst, who is fending off a stiff challenge from her Democratic opponent, Theresa Greenfield, had also suggested on Monday that doctors and hospitals had a financial incentive to inflate coronavirus statistics. “These health care providers and others are reimbursed at a higher rate if Covid is tied to it, so what do you think they’re doing?” she told voters gathered between fields of corn and soybeans.
Ms. Greenfield accused her opponent on Wednesday of “peddling dangerous conspiracy theories” in a tweet. “Heck, we need our leaders to trust scientists.”
The Iowa senate race is on track to be the most expensive in state history as national Democrats target Ms. Ernst, a former National Guard commander in Iraq, in their drive to win a Senate majority. Republican groups are responding in kind, pouring money into defending Ms. Ernst, a first-term senator who has been considered a rising Republican star. She was one of few campaigning G.O.P. senators who spoke at last week’s Republican National Convention, where she praised Mr. Trump’s relief for farmers for financial losses during the pandemic, which came on top of massive bailouts because of lost agricultural exports during his trade wars.
Public polling shows the Iowa senate race is a statistical tie. In the latest fund-raising quarter, Ms. Greenfield brought in just over $6 million, $2.4 million more than Ms. Ernst, though the incumbent had more cash in her campaign account.
The pandemic is increasingly an issue in the race as Democrats in Iowa criticize Republican officials, including the governor, for a laissez-faire response that has placed Iowa high up in several unfortunate statistics.
According to a tracking project by The New York Times, Iowa has had the most new virus cases per capita of any state over the last seven days. Ames and Iowa City, home to the state’s two largest public universities, rank second and fourth nationally among metro areas with the most cases per capita over the past two weeks, according to Times data.
The Coronavirus Outbreak ›
Frequently Asked Questions
Updated September 1, 2020
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Why is it safer to spend time together outside?
- Outdoor gatherings lower risk because wind disperses viral droplets, and sunlight can kill some of the virus. Open spaces prevent the virus from building up in concentrated amounts and being inhaled, which can happen when infected people exhale in a confined space for long stretches of time, said Dr. Julian W. Tang, a virologist at the University of Leicester.
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What are the symptoms of coronavirus?
- In the beginning, the coronavirus seemed like it was primarily a respiratory illness — many patients had fever and chills, were weak and tired, and coughed a lot, though some people don’t show many symptoms at all. Those who seemed sickest had pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome and received supplemental oxygen. By now, doctors have identified many more symptoms and syndromes. In April, the C.D.C. added to the list of early signs sore throat, fever, chills and muscle aches. Gastrointestinal upset, such as diarrhea and nausea, has also been observed. Another telltale sign of infection may be a sudden, profound diminution of one’s sense of smell and taste. Teenagers and young adults in some cases have developed painful red and purple lesions on their fingers and toes — nicknamed “Covid toe” — but few other serious symptoms.
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Why does standing six feet away from others help?
- The coronavirus spreads primarily through droplets from your mouth and nose, especially when you cough or sneeze. The C.D.C., one of the organizations using that measure, bases its recommendation of six feet on the idea that most large droplets that people expel when they cough or sneeze will fall to the ground within six feet. But six feet has never been a magic number that guarantees complete protection. Sneezes, for instance, can launch droplets a lot farther than six feet, according to a recent study. It's a rule of thumb: You should be safest standing six feet apart outside, especially when it's windy. But keep a mask on at all times, even when you think you’re far enough apart.
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I have antibodies. Am I now immune?
- As of right now, that seems likely, for at least several months. There have been frightening accounts of people suffering what seems to be a second bout of Covid-19. But experts say these patients may have a drawn-out course of infection, with the virus taking a slow toll weeks to months after initial exposure. People infected with the coronavirus typically produce immune molecules called antibodies, which are protective proteins made in response to an infection. These antibodies may last in the body only two to three months, which may seem worrisome, but that’s perfectly normal after an acute infection subsides, said Dr. Michael Mina, an immunologist at Harvard University. It may be possible to get the coronavirus again, but it’s highly unlikely that it would be possible in a short window of time from initial infection or make people sicker the second time.
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What are my rights if I am worried about going back to work?
- Employers have to provide a safe workplace with policies that protect everyone equally. And if one of your co-workers tests positive for the coronavirus, the C.D.C. has said that employers should tell their employees -- without giving you the sick employee’s name -- that they may have been exposed to the virus.
Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, has balked at mandating masks be worn statewide, and has been criticized for barring K-12 schools from holding online-only classes unless the virus positivity rate reaches 15 percent or above in their counties. The state’s recent spike in cases has occurred as both K-12 and college students returned to campuses.
The governor only last week ordered bars and nightclubs to close in the two big university cities. Meanwhile, Iowa State University, in Ames, said it would allow 25,000 fans to attend a football game on Sept. 12, about 40 percent capacity for its stadium.
Ms. Greenfield, a businesswoman who, like her opponent, grew up on a farm, called on Wednesday for a statewide mask mandate, which Ms. Ernst has said should be a personal choice.
“We all want to beat this coronavirus pandemic, restart our economy, begin the school year safely, and get back to normal,” Ms. Greenfield said. “The science is clear — the best way to do that is if we all wear our masks.”
David Yepsen, a former political reporter and columnist at The Des Moines Register, said the coronavirus was just one issue unsettling the electoral landscape in a largely rural state that Mr. Trump easily won in 2016. Ms. Ernst, who lives in a county of just 5,700 people, should have a natural advantage over the Des Moines-based Ms. Greenfield, 56, who is appearing on a general election ballot for the first time.
“The governor’s managed to make everyone unhappy with the uncertainty over school openings, closing or not closing bars,” Mr. Yepsen said. “Ernst’s musing about conspiracy theories” about coronavirus plays into that unease, he added.
But Ms. Ernst, 50, who has been more visible on the campaign trail, including appearances like the one in Waterloo, has a clear appeal to rural voters. “As always in rural America, the cultural issues of religion, guns, abortion and now crime drive a lot of votes and this will hurt Democrats,” Mr. Yepsen said. “Kenosha and Minneapolis are a little too close and will fire up the G.O.P. base.”
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