[derekp7]

So if someone has Covid and gets run over by a train, is that reported as a Covid death (serious question)? Or are only deaths due to a medical reason (heart failure, stroke, etc) reported as such, since there is a possibility of them being linked?

[detaro]

> So if someone has Covid and gets run over by a train, is that reported as a Covid death (serious question)?

No.

German reporting is based on the local health agencies reporting deaths either "caused primarily by COVID" or "with COVID as a contributing factor" (last I saw in a ratio of about 80:20, some sampling with autopsies suggests that's not totally off but the samples aren't all that large), with almost always the aggregate number being reported because the distinction can be very difficult to make. (EDIT: although official overall cause-of-death statistics still go by primary reported cause, and thus exclude the latter part)

[DenisM]

Any death where covid contributed. So, no train wrecks, but death from pneumonia-while-covid is counted as death by covid.

Coronavirus disease deaths are identified using the ICD–10 code U07.1. Deaths are coded to U07.1 when coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 are reported as a cause that contributed to death on the death certificate.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/tech_notes.htm

[jacquesm]

> but death from pneumonia-while-covid is counted as death by covid.

As well it should be, because the base rate for pneumonia is well known and is taken into account when reporting these stats.

I linked you an example in another comment.