This isn't totally accurate for the guidance from CDC's National Center for Health Statistics: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/covid-19.htm#understanding-the-num

This isn't totally accurate for the guidance from CDC's National Center for Health Statistics: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/covid-19.htm#understanding-the-numbers https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/covid-19.htm#understanding-the... In summary: - COVID-19 deaths are counts of death certificates that list COVID-19 as a contributing cause of death. - A death certificate can list multiple causes of death. The dataset I work with includes up to 20. - Causes of death are determined by the medical professional who fills out the death certificate. They use their professional judgement. - COVID-19 deaths are counted differently compared to usual death data. In the usual tables listing deaths by cause, each death is only counted for the underlying cause of death (there can be only one). That's the cause which kicked off the whole process of dying. Still, for the COVID-19 deaths, the disease must still be a contributing cause. As a note, I don't believe any allegations the professionals filling out death certificates are following firm and unreasonable rules. The group of people who file death certificates in the US is just to varied: physicians, medical examiners, elected coroners, district attorneys, etc. Coordination, let alone conspiracy, is nearly impossible.