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All Countries except for South Korea are NOT counting the mild or asymptomatic cases. When you look at the SK numbers, 5,621 confirmed cases and 35 deaths. Th

All Countries except for South Korea are NOT counting the mild or asymptomatic cases. When you look at the SK numbers, 5,621 confirmed cases and 35 deaths. That puts the death rate at 0.6% (same as severe influenza season). Everybody just needs to chill.

d1zzy 7y ago
Even if COVID-19 fatality rate is _lower_ than the regular flu, if it infects people faster to the point where those very few severe cases cannot get the help they need because of health services being overwhelmed then it will potentially be resulting in a lot more deaths than the flu.
- umanwizard 7y ago
  I don't understand people downplaying this by saying it's only as bad as the flu. The flu is really fucking bad! Before widespread flu vaccination, it killed 50 million people in just one outbreak (Spanish flu). That's more than have been killed by HIV/AIDS combined in history. And we have no vaccine against COVID-19. Even nowadays, it still kills tens of thousands of people every year.
  - drewcon 7y ago
    To be fair. Seasonal flu usually induces secondary sickness (bacterial pneumonia) that causes mortality in the elderly and very young population. Spanish flu wiped out the young and elderly but also the middle aged directly with things like cytokine storms. Something we are not seeing with Covid 19.
    - bcrosby95 7y ago
      Correct. Note that there were multiple waves of the Spanish Flu. First wave was fairly mild and hit the young and elderly. Second wave hit the middle aged and wiped out a chunk of the population. The third wave was slightly worse than the first but much less deadly than the second - I couldn't find much detail about it when I last tried. Several theories on why it turned out this way, none of them relevant to the current situation though.
drewcon 7y ago
SK looks like a good back of the envelope proxy for the first world. Id also add... I’m not sure why we, worried internet lay people, really care so much about “the percent”. (Not accusing you of this, just having a thought after your comment). The final rates being quoted are global averages. They are basically meaningless if you’re trying to assess how worried and prepared you, as an individual, should be. Age and access to care (in addition to counting mild cases) seems to be a huge predictor here of severity and outcome. So any given country or community is going have different demographics and health infrastructure compositions that impact the mortality rate reported. What I really want is a calculator that tells me based on age, pre existing conditions, country, etc what my (or my older loved ones) chances are so I know how to react appropriately.
gdubs 7y ago
Just to put this in context, out of the 5,600 cases, 5,500 are active. Around 40 have recovered. Around 30 have died. 52 are in critical condition. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

d1zzy 7y ago

Even if COVID-19 fatality rate is _lower_ than the regular flu, if it infects people faster to the point where those very few severe cases cannot get the help they need because of health services being overwhelmed then it will potentially be resulting in a lot more deaths than the flu.

umanwizard 7y ago
I don't understand people downplaying this by saying it's only as bad as the flu. The flu is really fucking bad! Before widespread flu vaccination, it killed 50 million people in just one outbreak (Spanish flu). That's more than have been killed by HIV/AIDS combined in history. And we have no vaccine against COVID-19. Even nowadays, it still kills tens of thousands of people every year.
- drewcon 7y ago
  To be fair. Seasonal flu usually induces secondary sickness (bacterial pneumonia) that causes mortality in the elderly and very young population. Spanish flu wiped out the young and elderly but also the middle aged directly with things like cytokine storms. Something we are not seeing with Covid 19.
  - bcrosby95 7y ago
    Correct. Note that there were multiple waves of the Spanish Flu. First wave was fairly mild and hit the young and elderly. Second wave hit the middle aged and wiped out a chunk of the population. The third wave was slightly worse than the first but much less deadly than the second - I couldn't find much detail about it when I last tried. Several theories on why it turned out this way, none of them relevant to the current situation though.

drewcon 7y ago

SK looks like a good back of the envelope proxy for the first world. Id also add... I’m not sure why we, worried internet lay people, really care so much about “the percent”. (Not accusing you of this, just having a thought after your comment). The final rates being quoted are global averages. They are basically meaningless if you’re trying to assess how worried and prepared you, as an individual, should be. Age and access to care (in addition to counting mild cases) seems to be a huge predictor here of severity and outcome. So any given country or community is going have different demographics and health infrastructure compositions that impact the mortality rate reported. What I really want is a calculator that tells me based on age, pre existing conditions, country, etc what my (or my older loved ones) chances are so I know how to react appropriately.

gdubs 7y ago

Just to put this in context, out of the 5,600 cases, 5,500 are active. Around 40 have recovered. Around 30 have died. 52 are in critical condition. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/