Buzz
A widely circulated and grossly inaccurate statistic claims the CDC acknowledged that merely 6% of reported COVID-19 fatalities were directly caused by the virus. This assertion is not only misleading but also dangerously incorrect. In reality, nearly all these deaths were due to COVID-19, with approximately 95% of cases having the coronavirus as the primary cause of illness. Misinterpretation arises from a lack of understanding about how death certificates function.
Death certificates include both the immediate cause of death and any underlying conditions that contributed to it. For clarity, here is an example of the standard US death certificate, directly sourced from the CDC's official website.
For additional insights into pandemic misconceptions, watch the video below:
It’s important to note that death certificates do not include a checkbox indicating whether the deceased had COVID-19. Instead, the certifier must specify the immediate cause of death and may outline a sequence of events leading to it. The form’s guidelines provide examples, such as:
When organ system failures like congestive heart failure, hepatic failure, renal failure, or respiratory failure are listed as causes of death, their underlying causes must be documented on the subsequent lines (for example, renal failure
due to
Type I diabetes mellitus).
The progression from illness to death can be intricate, especially for those who have experienced the loss of a loved one with multiple health complications. A patient might be hospitalized for one condition but ultimately succumb to a chain of complications stemming from the initial issue.
COVID-19 fatalities often follow a similar pattern. For instance, an individual might suffer from adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) as a result of a COVID-19 infection. If ARDS leads to their death, it will be recorded on the death certificate, with COVID-19 identified as the root cause.
The death certificate clearly indicates whether COVID-19 was the direct or contributing cause of death.
A widespread misconception suggests that many COVID-19 deaths involve individuals who were already severely ill from another condition, which ultimately led to their demise. COVID-19, in these cases, is mistakenly believed to have been added to the death certificate despite not being the true cause of death.
Fortunately, we can distinguish between these scenarios by examining where COVID-19 is noted on the death certificate.
If a person was critically ill with another condition, such as cancer, and subsequently could not recover from a COVID-19 infection, COVID-19 would be listed as the immediate cause on the first line, with cancer as the primary underlying cause.
If someone contracted COVID-19 and died due to its complications, COVID-19 would be the primary underlying cause (listed last), while another condition, like respiratory failure, would appear as the immediate cause on the first line.
What is the distinction between deaths caused by COVID-19 and those occurring with COVID-19?
To begin, let’s examine the origin of the 6% figure. This CDC webpage details COVID-19 fatalities alongside associated comorbidities. It includes a note stating, “For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the sole cause listed.”
If COVID-19 is the only cause mentioned, it implies the individual had no pre-existing conditions and did not develop any complications from the virus before passing away. As expected, such cases are uncommon. Most COVID-19 patients endure prolonged, severe illnesses, often requiring weeks of intensive care, with complications being frequent.
Here’s the critical statistic: the CDC clarifies that “For approximately 95% of deaths where COVID-19 is recorded on the death certificate, it is identified as the primary underlying cause of death.”
This indicates that when COVID-19 is listed on a death certificate, it is almost always the root cause of death.
However, all of these deaths were ultimately caused by COVID-19.
This is where the mental gymnastics come into play. If someone contracted COVID-19 and died from its complications, it’s clear that COVID-19 was the cause of death. But if someone was already seriously ill, contracted COVID-19, and then passed away...they still died because of COVID-19, right? Arguing otherwise is akin to saying that if a person with cancer was hit by a bus, the bus wasn’t the actual cause of death.
A variation of the “6%” claim suggests that many deaths shouldn’t be counted because “old age” played a role. By that reasoning, do elderly people simply...not die? If an older individual dies from a disease, the disease is still the cause of death. Nobody disputes cancer death statistics by subtracting those who were elderly at the time of death.
In reality, there’s no grand conspiracy to inflate or miscalculate COVID-19 death counts. (And for those who believe the CDC is in error: why use CDC data to challenge CDC figures?) If anything, COVID-19 deaths are underreported. This becomes evident when comparing this year’s mortality rates to previous years. Something has claimed an additional 200,000 American lives in 2020, and it’s no mystery what sets this year apart.
