The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report late last week showing that just 9,683 Americans, or 6%, died with only COVID-19 listed on their death certificates, leading to a social media trending topic on the issue.
The other 94% of deaths were listed as having at least one additional medical condition linked to their death.
Some of the underlying diseases listed by the CDC include influenza and pneumonia, respiratory failure, hypertensive disease, diabetes, vascular and unspecified dementia, cardiac arrest, heart failure and renal failure.
Twitter proponents on both sides of the issue made their case that the data either proved that the CDC had been wrong all along or that that health officials have said from the start that comorbidities were more likely to cause a person to die from COVID-19 anyway.
At least 182,885 people have died from coronavirus in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The CDC has long said that pre-existing health conditions can cause people to experience more severe COVID-19 symptoms.
Many health experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have rejected claims that coronavirus deaths are being exaggerated.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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