- In week ending August 19, Covid was primary cause in just 1.7% of virus deaths
- During peak of pandemic, 30% of virus deaths listed Covid as the primary cause
- READ MORE: Covid Infections surge in US amid rise of two mutant variants
Nearly 99 percent of ‘Covid deaths’ reported by the CDC each week are not primarily caused by the virus, official data shows.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Covid dashboard shows just 1.7 percent of the 324 Covid deaths registered in the week ending August 19 had the coronavirus as the primary cause of death.
The figures indicate just a handful of victims included in the weekly figure were actually killed by Covid. For comparison, the virus was behind one in three ‘Covid deaths’ at America’s pandemic peak in 2021.
The primary or underlying cause of death is defined as the disease, situation or event that initiated the chain of events directly resulting in death.
Complications of the primary cause of death are usually considered secondary causes when doctors register a death certificate.
For example, Covid could be listed as a secondary cause of death when the virus puts too much stress on a person with a pre-existing heart condition.
The primary cause of death would be listed as heart disease, with Covid listed as a contributing cause.
The percentage of Covid deaths in the week ending Aug. 19 represents a slight increase from the previous week and continues a five-week upward trend, but is a drastic decline from the peak of the pandemic, when 30 percent of deaths listed Covid as the primary cause.
While the CDC has not reported what the primary cause of death was in cases where Covid was the secondary factor, separate data from the agency shows thus far in August, the largest cause of death in the US has been cancer, followed by diseases of the heart.
