The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has made a change in how it will count deaths from the novel coronavirus COVID-19.
Gizmodo reports the agency changed how it will start including in its tally both confirmed and probable cases and deaths attributed to COVID-19.
The CDC also officially classified COVID-19 as a nationally notifiable disease.
That means all state and local health agencies are required to provide any relevant case data to the CDC.
As of April 2020, the CDC reports there have been 605,390 cases and over 24,000 deaths attributed to covid-19 in the US.
Some have accused governments of overcounting deaths caused by COVID-19. But reporting has shown the opposite is happening.
Cities across the country have reported spikes of people dying at home or in long-term care facilities. Many had never been tested.