Death is just another code. There are primary, secondary and tertiary codes. When an obese diabetic has a bad heart and can’t breath do you make the last straw (covid-19) the cause of death? Or the life of bad lifestyle choices?
Yes, but the report does not state that COVID-19 (U07.1) number is only that as a primary code. The fifth column shows those who have multiple codes—Deaths with Pneumonia and COVID-19 (J12.0-J18.9 and U07.1). This number could be in addition to the number listed in column 1, but seems more likely that this number is already including those listed in column 1.