6 Percent: Controversial Figure in the COVID-19 Death Count

Distrust of official response to COVID-19 comes into focus as CDC releases updated mortality numbers

A podium with the logo for the CDC. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Social media is abuzz with news of a new death count for COVID-19 with some commentators suggesting it makes this novel virus appear far less threatening than previous figures have portrayed.

The debate that followed has revealed the fault lines and trust issues affecting how governments and people have grappled with the pandemic.

Divisive Figures

The figure comes from a recent report by the U.S. Centers of Disease Control (CDC), which found that only six percent of the reported 161,392 U.S. death certificates as of August 22 had COVID-19 as the only cause of death. Six percent of 161,392 is about 9,682.