The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated their website last week and disclosed out of the 161,392 deaths in the CDC database, just six percent (6%), about 9,700 deaths, were attributed to the coronavirus alone. According to the CDC, the other 94 percent had an average of 2.6 additional conditions or causes of deaths, such as heart disease, diabetes, and sepsis.
The following is the top underlying medical conditions linked to coronavirus deaths according to CDC:
- Influenza and pneumonia
- Respiratory failure
- Hypertensive disease
- Diabetes
- Vascular and unspecified dementia
- Cardiac Arrest
- Heart failure
- Renal failure
- Intentional and unintentional injury, poisoning and other adverse events
- Other medical conditions
Dr. David B Samadi MD, urologic oncology expert, and robotic surgeon commented on the CDC news via Twitter. "As a men's health expert, many men have been affected by COVID-19. The CDC today revealed that only 6% of COVID deaths were in patients without existing comorbidities. 94% of the deaths were in cases with pre-existing conditions. This affects the entire public."
“For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned,” the CDC stated in its report, under the heading 'Comoborbities'. “For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death.”
The CDC report also explains that "they are based on death certificates, which are the most reliable source of data and contain information not available anywhere else, including comorbid conditions, race and ethnicity, and place of death.” The CDC defines comorbidity as having “more than one disease or condition … present in the same person at the same time. Conditions described as comorbidities are often chronic or long-term conditions. Other names to describe comorbid conditions are coexisting or co-occurring conditions and sometimes also ‘multimorbidity’ or ‘multiple chronic conditions'.”
Table 3. Conditions contributing to deaths involving coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), by age group, United States. Week ending 2/1/2020 to 8/22/2020.* (Courtesy: CDC)
The Washington Examiner reported they received a statement on Thursday from the CDC Director Robert Redfield where he said, “testing may be considered for all close contacts of confirmed or probable COVID-19 patients." The statement continued, “Testing is meant to drive actions and achieve specific public health objectives. Everyone who needs a COVID-19 test can get a test. Everyone who wants a test does not necessarily need a test. The key is to engage the needed public health community in the decision with the appropriate follow-up action.”
The report added, "Research has indicated that asymptomatic individuals can transmit the virus to more vulnerable groups, such as the elderly or people with existing health conditions. Until Monday’s changes, the official CDC recommendations were that all people should get tested, even without showing symptoms. Redfield added Thursday that anyone who has been in contact with a confirmed or probable COVID-19 patient should consult a healthcare provider 'to determine if [a] test is needed'."
The CDC’s guidelines, Redfield said, were agreed upon by every health expert in the White House coronavirus task force. Admiral Brett Giroir, the task force testing coordinator, also told reporters Wednesday that experts such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease doctor, discussed and agreed on the guidelines.
