To be fair, that 7% vs 93% number is a little misleading.
We need to come to a concrete definition of “dying FROM Covid” vs “dying WITH Covid”.
For example, if you had stage 4 cancer, caught Covid and died, I would say you died from cancer and Covid was a compounding factor. If you were 90 years old, caught Covid and died, you died of old age and Covid was a compounding factor.
On the other hand, if you were 55, had high blood pressure and caught Covid and died I would say you died from Covid. High blood pressure was a compounding factor.
All of these scenarios would fall into the 93% of “with Covid” cases that you mention.
I would say that if you have a 75% chance of living another year (with all of your existing illnesses) before you get Covid, you should be counted as “dying FROM Covid”. If you had a 25% chance of dying from something else anyhow, you can’t say Covid caused the death.
What people do not understand (not because they are stupid, but because they never looked it up) is that MOST deaths—unless from a trauma like getting decapitated—are estimated.
Flu cases are estimated. Flu tests are measured. Flu related deaths are estimated based on a review of death certificates from a year later. Researchers look at the cause of death—either directly related to influenza, or pneumonia. During the flu season, if you get pneumonia and die (no matter the underlying cause) you are a “death by flu.”
The same applies to COVID.
If you have stage 4 cancer, and you die with Covid, if you would NOT have died at that time from the cancer, it is a COVID related death. The key is whether or not you would have died from the underlying cause, at that time, without COVID.
The whole “case rate” and “death rate” numbers are bullshit at this stage of the game.
In a true pandemic/epidemic the true impact of the disease is not even calculated (officially) until at least a year after the onset. It is based on the population, “normal” death rates, and the difference between THIS year compared to previous years—adjusted for changes in the population.
It can be complicated—but it is really simple: Did more people die this year than the trend over the past few years in the same place?
I have been saying since last winter that the focus on “bar stool” statistics and from amateur statisticians are a waste of time. They are counting raindrops in the midst of a storm. You can count all day long and it seems bad—but until you back up a lot and see the entire picture you have no idea if it is a good soaking rain, or a hurricane.
Keep the vulnerable safe. The rest of us need to keep washing our hands.