People think #coronavirus deaths are overcounted because so many of the dead had other major health issues. But I doubt this is as big of a problem as people think. Try some examples in this thread.
A patient with decades of well-managed diabetes has coronavirus symptoms and dies of lung failure within a week of being admitted to the hospital. What are the odds the diabetes was the cause? Close to zero.
A patient with cancer and an estimated one year to live gets coronavirus symptoms and dies from lung failure within one week of being admitted to the hospital. What was the cause of death? Probably not cancer alone, unless the cancer was in the lungs.
A man with a spear in his chest goes to the ER and also seems to have coronavirus symptoms. He dies within the hour from loss of blood. Does that get coded as a coronavirus death? I'm thinking probably not.
My point is that while it might seem logical that one can't know for sure the cause of death in a patient with multiple potential causes, the reality is that doctors can be 95% sure just by the timing and specifics of the situation. Would any ER doctor like to weigh in on this?
