why "only 6% of COVID19 deaths are actually COVID" is misleading

Let's talk about that headline that claims only 6% of COVID19-attributed deaths are actually due to COVID19 because 94% of patients had another medical condition.

That is true. Many people that died of COVID19 had another medical condition. These numbers come from CDC data that I have linked at the bottom of this post.

I am sure many others will write about this in a much more eloquent way, but I think understanding this headline is really important.

For example, many people that died with COVID19 also had respiratory illness (pneumonia, respiratory failure) at the time of death. That respiratory illness is directly linked to COVID19. Therefore, yes, that counts as a COVID19-attributed death.

Just because someone who died of COVID19 had another medical condition does not mean that they would have died if they had NOT gotten COVID. (I mean, they were going to die at some point - we are all going to die eventually, but I digress.)

When you go on vacation and come back from work and a coworker asks where you went last week, you do not tell them you were on a plane. Yes, the plane took you on your adventure, and you would not have gotten there if it were not for the plane - but that isn't the point.

In this case, the plane may be a COVID patient's preexisting condition or old age. If it weren't for that condition, maybe they would not have died of COVID. That does not make their death unrelated to COVID.

And yes, many people that have died of COVID19 are in the "advanced age" category. That is true. Have you ever known and loved someone in the "advanced age" category? Have you ever known someone of advanced age to die? If they died of pancreatitis or pneumonia or of cancer - did you feel GOOD that they died of one of those ways over another? No. They still died and you were still rightfully heartbroken.

Also - 6% of deaths are among people with NO other medical condition? That, to me, is concerning.

Remember - public health concerns do not fall into partisan politics. Wear your mask. Make smart choices about where you are going and who you are hanging out with. Wash your hands.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm?fbclid=IwAR3VHBi4TTzMcLJ6_lGi-0ymDSs22XFN8ATckMmOp0tV1m3XFr2x3-TBDAo#Comorbidities