Node and Clark
“I agree that the seriousness of the pandemic is being hyped in the news media.”
What is the meaning of this statement? What exactly is hyped? That we have a pandemic with a doubling infection rate a few days, that although it mainly kills older people, that it has also killed many health workers, transport workers and younger people? That the UKG has had to build temporary nightingale hospitals to house the overspill of patients from the NHS? That ITU units are full and there is an expansion of ITU beds to cope with this? Please both or either of you explain.
As to mortality rate. This is a shifting target. At the beginning of the epidemic the WHO had to assemble together, from data mainly from China, a mortality rate. Nobody ever thinks that this is set in stone. The case mortality rate is defined as the number of patients dying of a disease as a proportion of those diagnosed with the disease These are patients who present sick in hospital. But that is not to say that this is the overall mortality rate from this virus, which can really not be determined with any degree of accuracy until after the pandemic ends, and large population studies are done. For example, the case mortality rate in Italy and now UK, approaches 10% because these countries have only tested those who come to hospital, a self selected group at the severe end of the spectrum, at least that is what UK is doing. If the tests extend to those who are symptomatic and self isolating at home, naturally the mortality rate will drop. If it extends to the general population, including those who are mildly symptomatic, or asymptomatic, it will drop further. Mortality rate is also age dependent. So there is no smoking gun here.