In recent days, I have needed to go through my notes and finally post content that was posted a few years ago on a Facebook discussion, because it is amazing that there are still people arguing about coronavirus and mortality. The following is from my original post in an anarchist debate group in 2022.
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For a while now I've encountered people who claim that the CDC conflates people who die **with** COVID-19 with those who die **from** COVID-19.
This claim is shown to be incorrect by the simple reference to their CDC's own guidelines to coroners.
Jan 2022
"COVID-19 should not be reported on the death certificate if it did not cause or contribute to the death."
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/covid-19.htm#understanding-death-data-quality
But is this a recent addition? A search through the archive of that webpage indicates otherwise.
Sept 2021
"COVID-19 should not be reported on the death certificate if it did not cause or contribute to the death."
https://web.archive.org/web/20210903073501/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss...
June 2021
"COVID-19 should not be reported on the death certificate if it did not cause or contribute to the death."
https://web.archive.org/web/20210629232131/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss...
May 2021
"COVID-19 should not be reported on the death certificate if it did not cause or contribute to the death."
https://web.archive.org/web/20210304115004/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss...
Jan 2021
https://web.archive.org/web/20210104231350/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss...
"COVID-19 should not be reported on the death certificate if it did not cause or contribute to the death."
Oct 2020
"COVID-19 should not be reported on the death certificate if it did not cause or contribute to the death."
https://web.archive.org/web/20201025183539/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss...
July 2020
"COVID-19 should not be reported on the death certificate if it did not cause or contribute to the death."
https://web.archive.org/web/20200714233927/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss...
April 2020 (when the website started)
Link on the page to https://web.archive.org/web/20200410070441/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data...
Which states: "If COVID–19 played a role in the death, this condition should be specified on the death certificate"
https://web.archive.org/web/20200410070442/https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss...
Summary: People (generally, anti-vaxxers) are simply wrong when they claim that the CDC records anyone who dies **with** COVID-19 is the same as someone who dies **from** COVID-19. Further, it has always been like this since guidelines were published.
The question I have for people who have been spreading the erroneous claim is whether they are happy to be wrong and will acknowledge their error?
I also followed this up with the Victorian (Australia) Department of Health, to give an example of a different jurisdiction where I live. Their response was the same.
Thu, 30 Jun 2022
"The Victorian Government aligns reporting of mortality with the Series of National Guidelines as set by the Communicable Disease Network of Australia in line with Public Health practice and not the Australian Bureau of Statistics. We do not use the definition of “anyone with” coronavirus in our mortality numbers. Our mortality reporting includes people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and have COVID-19 as a contributing factor to their death OR as an antecedent condition within a reasonable time frame. We do not include cases who have a clear alternative cause of death, such as trauma."