As you probably know, Trump ordered hospitals to stop reporting Covid data to the CDC and instead give it to the dept. of Health and Human Services which is directed by a guy he appointed. What I didn't realize was that this order came into effect July 15th, which is just two days before the all time peak of new cases, on July 17th, after which the new case numbers have been in steady decline. I know this is old news, I just hadn't realized how closely those dates lined up. Kinda scary!
there are also second order deaths as a result of not seeking medical attention but there is no way that accounts for the total increases in deaths. I had to explain statistical analysis (not a statistician or epidemiologist but I broadly understand how estimates are made) to my in-laws because they were complaining about the numbers...