No, South Carolina’s COVID death totals aren’t inflated. DHEC clarifies CDC data
South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control issued a statement Thursday aimed at combating misinformation surrounding data from the federal government about deaths related to COVID-19.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated data over the weekend, noting that 6% of the more than 180,000 deaths related to COVID-19 in the United States have COVID-19 listed as the only cause of death.
That update led to confusion and claims on social media that the CDC had lowered the death toll related to the global coronavirus pandemic to less than 10,000 deaths. President Donald Trump retweeted one such claim, but Twitter later took that post down for violating its rules, USA Today reported.
DHEC has now joined numerous other medical agencies and experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, director for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in clarifying what that data actually means.
“The remaining 94 percent of deaths were among people with other underlying or contributing conditions but COVID-19 was still a factor in the deaths,” the agency said in a statement.
On death certificates, medical officials list an immediate cause of death, “the ultimate condition that caused the death,” DHEC’s statement read.
After that, officials list underlying causes that led to the immediate cause. In the case of COVID-19, acute respiratory distress syndrome is one of the most common such immediate causes. There are also other underlying factors, such as diabetes, asthma, respiratory diseases and obesity, that can combine with COVID-19 that leads to the immediate cause of death.
But, DHEC said in its statement, these underlying issues cannot account for the death. COVID-19, as an underlying cause, starts the chain that leads to other health problems that leads to the death.
“While certain people such as older adults are more likely to have more contributing factors, if the person doesn’t contract COVID-19, then those factors don’t start the cascade of events that lead to death,” DHEC’s statement read.
The danger of underlying health risks is not a newly-discovered issue. Both DHEC and the CDC have warned that those with existing health issues are at a greater risk of serious health concerns and death if they contract the novel coronavirus.
In South Carolina, DHEC reported this past Monday that nearly 60% of confirmed and probable deaths related to COVID-19 occurred in individuals that also had some form of cardiovascular disease. More than 47% also had diabetes, and more than 20% had a history of kidney disease.
This story was originally published September 3, 2020 at 4:11 PM.
