BOISE, Idaho — As of Tuesday afternoon, the state of Idaho has recorded 127 deaths related to COVID-19.
Of those, 33 are considered 'probable.' But what exactly does 'probable' mean, and how do we know the reported COVID-19 deaths should actually be attributed to the virus?
Idaho deputy state epidemiologist Dr. Kathryn Turner says it's not a simple black-and-white answer because scientists are learning more about the virus every day.
"We're doing the best we can to realistically count the deaths that are related to COVID-19," she said. "I want to be really clear about what that word is, it's 'COVID-19-related.' What that means is maybe a person has some other underlying conditions but having the infection of COVID-19 ultimately caused the death. It doesn't mean they didn't die of a heart attack for instance, but without that viral infection they may not have died of the heart attack."
According to Turner, if there's a note on a death certificate that that person tested positive for COVID-19 months ago, it is not counted as a COVID-19 death.
So is it possible to have more than one cause of death?
"Yes, it is," Turner said. "There are different sections of death certificates - there's the immediate cause of death, there's the underlying cause of death, there are significant conditions leading to death. In our definition, if it's either a contributing cause or above then we are counting it as a COVID-19-related death."
KTVB's Brian Holmes asked Dr. Turner the following question: "Let's say it is flu season, you get the flu, that leads to pneumonia, but then because your body is fighting off pneumonia, you could die of a stroke, but still be charted as a flu death?"
Turner responded that in order for a condition to be listed as a contributing cause of death, it has to be a significant part of the patient's illness
"It depends on the situation but what you just described, your immediate cause of death would be a stroke but your underlying cause of death would be pneumonia, and a significant contributing factor would be influenza," she explained.
The death certification process can take hours, days, or even weeks depending on the depths of the investigation. However, Idaho's electronic record system is up to date and able to receive COVID-19-related death data fairly quickly - usually within 24-72 hours.
The pandemic has changed nothing in that process. Deaths are certified the same way today as they were before the pandemic.
"We are not doing anything different with coronavirus than we would do with influenza, than we would do with pneumonia," Dr. Turner said. "It's essentially the same process, it's just a different virus that we're counting and nobody complains about our stats for influenza every year.
"We're still learning new things every day and that is an uncomfortable place for anyone to be," she added.
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