Death is scary – not the infection rate

At the beginning of the pandemic, media used the term "death from COVID-19" or "COVID-19 deaths". Now, "deaths with COVID-19" is the trending expression. The reason is that more and more official authorities are starting to use the term "with COVID-19”. 

It may seem like a small difference in words, but it does mean that media admits that the figures reported for COVID-19 also include deaths caused by other diseases. 

The people who actually die by, in or of verified or suspected COVID-19 must be significantly lower than the number who die with COVID-19. The deaths are just as real and just as sad, but the causes are different. And the measures to save human lives should be different.  The new use of "with" is a sign that media may be starting to sober up. But no one has yet begun to question the "death toll" for COVID-19. It is death we are most afraid of, not the spread of infection.