more in-hospital deaths than had occurred in the entire country

[GoodTaste]

Here, using "entire" is confusing to me since "the entire country" must include in-hospital deaths. It is not possible that more deaths in a part of the country (in-hospital areas) than that in the entire country.

So I wonder whether it should be "more in-hospital deaths than had occurred in the rest of the country."

========================
5.Data from Australia are not compatible with government reports (too many cases for just five hospitals, more in-hospital deaths than had occurred in the entire country during the study period). Surgisphere (the data company) have since statedthis was an error of classificationof one hospital from Asia.This indicates the need for further error checking throughout thedatabase.


Source: An open letter to Mehra et al and The Lancet (May 28, 2020)

https://zenodo.org/record/3862789#.XtT3h9L7SQL

 

[Skrej]

It's correct as written. The government reports claim there were more in-hospital deaths in just five hospitals than there were in the entire country. The number of deaths from five hospitals (or one hospital, or 100 hospitals - the number of hospitals cited isn't particularly relevant) can't exceed the total number dead. Hence, there were errors in reporting.

It's just a way of double-checking the math.

 

[GoesStation]

The writer is pointing out that there must be something wrong with government reports because (among other problems) they show more deaths in hospitals than there were in the entire country.