Newsflash, genius. They are counting every person that died with COVID (or even "presumed" positive) as a death from COVID-19. The actual number of people that were killed directly by COVID is not known, just like we don't measure, test, or track every single person that dies of flu each year. It's an estimate that's arrived at long after the fact by reviewing data.
> Cumulative number of COVID-related deaths as reported by local health department, beginning March 19, 2020. This determination is made by local health departments based on the cause of death reported on death certificates. It is expected that, to be counted, COVID is the cause of death or at least a contributing factor to the death. COVID-related deaths are also counted in “Positive Cases”.
Here is the CDC's policy:
> In cases where a definite diagnosis of COVID–19 cannot be made, but it is suspected or likely (e.g., the circumstances are compelling within a reasonable degree of certainty), it is acceptable to report COVID–19 on a death certificate as “probable” or “presumed.”
There is also a lack of consistency between how states count deaths: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/which-deaths-c...
If not, what would you say is a reasonable way to compare them?