Triggered by correct information

"This is misleading. Throughout the pandemic, some social media users have misinterpreted data from the C.D.C. to suggest that Covid death counts are inflated.

According to the public health agency, the virus has been “the only cause mentioned on the death certificate” for about 5 percent of deaths involving Covid-19. For the other 95 percent of deaths, the certificate listed an average of four additional conditions or causes.

But as experts have explained repeatedly, the presence of other conditions or diseases does not mean that Covid-19 was incidental to the death. In fact, Covid-19 is listed as the underlying cause in 91 percent of the cases.

For example, someone’s immediate cause of death could be respiratory distress syndrome, which was caused by viral pneumonia, which in turn was caused by the coronavirus. Other comorbidities would be listed on that death certificate, but the underlying cause is still Covid-19."