This smells a little like CYA

COVID doctors challenge CDC's rules on cause of death, concerned about inflated numbers

Frontline COVID-19 doctors this week have gone public saying they feel pressured to show COVID-19 as cause-of-death on certificates of patients suspected of having the virus when they also have had underlying medical conditions.

 

Dr. Jonathan Fishbein, a clinical researcher, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease and the World Health Organization have issued “vague if not misguided recommendations that unfortunately have been adopted by national, state and local leaders."

“It is absolutely critical that we have accurate data to support decision-makers,” he also told Just the News. “If the data in our assessments included patients who have not definitively tested positive for COVID-19, that provides misleading information to policy-makers.

…Fishbein and his colleagues have in response created an independent survey to collect evidence to evaluate risk factors and treatments for COVID-19, with the expectation of more accurately recording causes of death.

The reporting tool was developed by Veracuity and the survey is being conducted in partnership with the Alliance for Clinical Research Excellence and Safety (ACRES).

As stated here, the empirical data does not suggest that there are "undercounted" Covid-19 deaths taking place (at least not here in the United States). In fact, the opposite would seem to be true, with more Covid-19 deaths being reported than the numbers would intuitively suggest.  Moreover, with such a significant portion of the decadents being in their eighties or older, it becomes clear that many would have died the next time they contracted any sort of virus (be it the flu, pneumonia, or whatever).

But with some stringent lock downs in place throughout most of the country and little tangible evidence that lock downs have worked better than common sense social distancing used in states that are not locked down... there seems to be some incentive to make things appear worse than they actually are.

Add to that the financial incentive to reporting someone in ICU to be treated for Covid-19 vs any other sort of ailment, it seems more likely than not that Covid-19 cases are being overinflated rather than underinflated. I suspect we may hear more about this sometime in the future.