3 ms·
A better question would be ‘How many years do we save’ because the vast majority of the people dying from covid-19 are old people who already suffer from one or
by flexie 6y ago
A better question would be ‘How many years do we save’ because the vast majority of the people dying from covid-19 are old people who already suffer from one or more prior diseases.
The average life lost in Vietnam or Afghanistan had maybe 55-60 years left, had it not been for the bullet that cut it short. The average age of covid-19 victims is maybe 73 or so, and those people would in average have lived another 0-5 years (typically less than the average life span for men of 78.5 years because of the prior illness).
- chinathrow 6y agoIt's way more than 0-5 years, it's 10 years according to a study made by researchers at University of Glasgow. https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-75 https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-75 "Deaths from COVID-19 represent a substantial burden in terms of per-person YLL, more than a decade, even after adjusting for the typical number and type of LTCs found in people dying of COVID-19. The extent of multimorbidity heavily influences the estimated YLL at a given age. More comprehensive and standardised collection of data on LTCs is needed to better understand and quantify the global burden of COVID-19 and to guide policy-making and interventions."
- afthonos 6y agoLeaving aside the disturbing American trend of minimizing the value of the elderly, your math is based on comparing with life expectancy at birth. You should instead be looking at life expectancy at time of death, which is significantly higher (a decade or more).