Seems like there is a lot of assuming and not many facts particularly if paramedics are not bringing any cardiac arrent patients to the ER unless they were revived.
here is the guidelines from the above referenced article:
“But the guidelines change if the patient cannot be revived before arriving at a hospital.
“No adult non-traumatic or blunt traumatic cardiac arrest is to be transported to a hospital with manual or mechanical compression in progress without either return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) or a direct order from a medical control physician unless there is imminent physical danger to the EMS provider on the scene,” the directive said.
“In the event a resuscitation is terminated, and the body is in public view, the body can be left in the custody of the NYPD.”
https://nypost.com/2020/04/02/coronavirus-nyc-emts-stop-taking-cardiac-arrest-patients-to-hospitals/
Here’s a statement from De Blasio today
When asked about the report, the Mayor acknowledged that the actual number of COVID-19 deaths is likely much higher than the numbers the city is reporting.
“The first thing we are focused on is saving the next life,” he said. “So we do want to know the truth about every death at home but it’s safe to assume that the vast majority are coronavirus related, and that makes it even more sober the sense of how many people we are losing.”
https://gothamist.com/news/coronavirus-updates-air-pollution-covid-19-death-rate
So if a heart attack patient (non-traumatic) or an auto accident patient (blunt traumatic) is not revived, De Blasio assumes it is a COVID-19 death?
He's talking about deaths at home. Obviously not all of them are the CV. But I'm guessing they can take a guess. The paramedics or whoever are called probably have a “typical” average number of deaths in a home for a day. Any number that is over that could be used as an estimated CV death. I can't even imagine dying at home from this without having the time to call for help or get to the hospital.
I recall reading somewhere that is done to estimate flu deaths as well. The number of deaths during flu season that is above the daily average death for pneumonia and similar illnesses. (Or something like that)