Similarly, for various reasons (and/or incentives), more deaths have been attributed to COVID-19 than are probably warranted. I mean if you had terminal cancer, were 85 and contracted the disease, COVID-19 may have contributed but did not cause the death.
I imagine the true rate of fatality will take years to sort out, and even then, be subject to debate.
If you were still kicking until you caught the virus, other health issues aside, then it’s safe to say that the virus killed you because there’s no reason to presume you’d be dead anyways from a condition you lived with for so many years.
Recent reports say people are being removed by the hundreds from NY homes, but are not counted as Covid dead. Are they saving tissue to check on the cause of death and getting true statistics? There are probably politicians who would rather avoid having true statistics. True rate will NEVER be sorted out if they are not preserving tissue samples of non hospitalized dead.