That's a good question to be asking. How many patients died from the virus, vs how many just died with it? Would the patient have died if he/she didn't have it? That's a tough call for a Medial Examiner, or an attending Physician.
Right. A tough call.
Which is why, IMO, the assumption being made by some that people, in NYC for example, are NOT dying from COVID and that the numbers are being padded somehow, seems to be fraught with conspiracy ideas rather than the patience to wait for facts. The physicians and ME's in NYC have been overwhelmed by the numbers and the unprepared hospitals, so that anything coming out of that hot mess need to be considered in that light.
I think that, rather than assuming that everything is some sort of conspiracy to make this seem somehow worse than it actually is...... though I find it hard to believe that anyone with eyes open doesn't realize how bad it really is...... we all need to wait for the actual numbers.
In addition, the argument that more people die from the flu needs to have the facts on the table. How did the flu kill them? Did it turn into pneumonia because of their age or emphysema, and if so, wasn't it their age or emphysema that killed them and NOT the flu?
My point in that is that in order to form a comparison (which some are doing) and say that the flu death numbers were worse, we need to know if people who just got the flu died, or if other health factors caused those deaths. (Not to mention in how short a time people have died from COVID).
Goose, gander, and all that........