How many Americans have died of the coronavirus? You would think the answer to that question would be fairly simple. After all, we have the bodies in morgues and funeral homes that we can count. That is true. But how many of those people died of the virus becomes a more difficult question to answer.

Most media reports argue that we have a significant undercount, even in this country. It isn’t because government officials are trying to hide anything. It is due to the widespread lack of testing, especially in the early weeks of the outbreak. Also, people dying at home usually aren’t tested. And even some who die at a hospital or nursing home may not be tested because medical examiners are overburdened in many of the nation’s hot spots.

In order to counter this disparity, New York City last week decided to add 3,700 people to its death tolls. They “presumed” they died from the virus. That addition increased the US death toll by 17 percent. And it is worth mentioning that Ohio also has included people in their death toll who they have “suspected” of having the virus.

Is it possible that instead of an undercount, we might have an overcount? Dr. Anthony Fauci has dismissed this concern as merely a “conspiracy theory.” But Dr. Deborah Birx explained is a recent press briefing that people are counted as victims of the pandemic if they tested positive for the coronavirus, even if something else caused their death.

This raises an important distinction between dying from the virus versus dying with the virus. And I’m not just playing with prepositions. If you died of cancer or a heart attack but also tested positive for COVID-19, you are listed as a victim of the pandemic.

As you can see, getting an accurate number of coronavirus deaths isn’t so easy.