Are deaths within 20 days of testing positive for COVID-19 automatically added to the pandemic’s death toll?

A claim on social media was made with no offer of proof and in apparent ignorance of the systems by which cause of death is determined and documented.

Lead Stories found no publicly available evidence of a 20-day rule or guideline. The president of the national organization for medical examiners said it would be extremely unlikely that local coroners and medical examiners would submit to federal pressure to act against their training. 

"Death investigation and certification is a local process … Given that there are over 2,000 different death investigation jurisdictions and thousands and thousands of individual death certifiers, the idea that there is some massive conspiracy is inconceivable to me," said Dr. James Gill, president of the National Association of Medical Examiners.

The CDC's April 2020 guidance emphasizes the medical professional's judgement in death determinations.