There's been a lot of talk about a CDC report that said 94% of those with COVID-19 had underlying health conditions, which led some to say it is ONLY responsible for 6% of deaths attributed to it.

Let's look at what these numbers mean in this thread.

Earlier this month, the CDC released information that said 94% of those who died from COVID-19 had an underlying medical condition, or co-morbidity. The remaining 6% died from COVID-19 alone. But does that mean COVID-19 *only* killed 6% of people? No.

An underlying health condition means a person who is experiencing a health event also has some kind of other ailment. Do you suffer from asthma, or have a body mass index above 30? Those are examples of the many known at-risk COVID-19 underlying health conditions.

When someone dies from COVID-19, but has asthma, it isn’t a death attributed to asthma. COVID-19 is a respiratory infection that overwhelms the body in a lot of different ways - and we are finding out new ways all the time, such as heart issues with younger patients.

Think of COVID-19 as an accelerant. A patient living with asthma for many years, only to be hit hard by COVID-19, dies. Asthma is a contributing factor, but COVID-19 exposed a weakness in the body and led to the patient’s death. COVID-19 is a cause of death.

“These comorbidities are being scrutinized unfairly,” says Dr. Kathy Moffett of @WVUMedicine. Risk factors on death certificates - which the CDC data used - are up to the discretion of the physician, in determining the cause of a patient’s death.

As to whether or not the CDC can be pressured into looking at those death certificates to alter them: “The CDC can’t change those death certificates, either,” Moffett said.

“There are plenty of examples of perfectly healthy individuals who have no underlying conditions that die from COVID-19,” Moffett said, noting the passing of Broadway actor Nick Cordero, aged 41. He was considered a healthy adult prior to his infection.

Be cautious of those looking to reduce the severity of the pandemic. The same data applies to flu season deaths. A person with an underlying condition, but dies with the flu, is still a flu death. We must all remain vigilant against COVID-19 and be safe in our daily lives.