Commonwealth Policy Center

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released startling data last week that reveals that the vast majority of Americans who died from COVID-19 also had underlying health issues. According to the CDC’s report, 94 percent of patients who died from coronavirus also had underlying health conditions like diabetes, heart failure, and dementia. Only 6 percent of all COVID-19 deaths, were exclusively due to COVID. The CDC reported these numbers from death certificates. We should be careful and respectful when talking about life even those who are near the end of life’s journey. But coronavirus isn’t as deadly as we were originally told, especially for those who are healthy. In hindsight, a better public policy would have been to quarantine the elderly and those with underlying health issues.