There are lots of factors skewing the numbers we are reading in the papers. Numbers of deaths are not very indicative unless you also know the total number of cases. And most countries don't know that, because they have lots of cases which don't get counted. Many of the people in ICUs will have a delayed death after spending a week or two on a ventilator. Before that happens, they're counted as living. This is why the number of deaths in Italy spiked - they had a backlog of living people who nothing could be done for. Italy's death numbers look especially bad because a Covid 19 patient with multiple conditions is counted as having died of Covid 19. Some other countries do it differently. Italy's numbers are also skewed by them having the second oldest population. So we probably won't have an accurate picture of current mortality rates for several months. Another thing which makes international comparisons difficult is the split between patients who are treated at home vs hospital. Then there's air pollution, and the proportion of patients who smoke. The most useful numbers we're getting are from Italy. The average age of people who've died there is 79. 99% of the dead had one other condition, 48% had 3 conditions or more.
Italy's coronavirus deaths surge by 627 in a day, elderly at high risk So it's pretty clear who needs to worry and who doesn't. Bear that in mind when the papers have yet another headline with DEATHS in it. They'll keep doing it every day for the rest of the year. But most of us don't need to read those stories. All we have to do is stop worrying, avoid spreading the virus and help the few who are high risk.
www.theportugalnews.com
