South Korea has tested 140,000 people for the coronavirus. That could explain why its death rate is

[Quixote1818]

Note: This story is 4 days old

South Korea has tested 140,000 people for the coronavirus. That could explain why its death rate is just 0.6% — far lower than in China or the US.

South Korea has tested more than 140,000 people for the new coronavirus and confirmed more than 6,000 cases. Its fatality rate is around 0.6%.
This suggests that, as many health experts have predicted, the virus' fatality rate seems to decrease as more cases are reported.
That's because more widespread testing leads more mild cases to be included in the count.
The US, by contrast, has tested around 1,500 people. The country has 221 confirmed cases and 12 deaths, suggesting a death rate of 5%.
The US' testing capacity has been limited.

The US and South Korea announced their first cases of the coronavirus on the same day: January 20. More than six weeks later, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tested around 1,500 people for the virus. South Korea, meanwhile, has tested about 140,000.

The nation is capable of conducting as many as 10,000 tests per day and has built drive-thru testing clinics that can detect coronavirus cases in just 10 minutes. Officials say the clinics can reduce testing time by a third.

This quick response has allowed South Korea to detect more than 6,000 coronavirus patients, around 35 of whom have died. That means the country's death rate is around 0.6%.

The death rate is a calculation of the number of known deaths out of the total number of confirmed cases. Because the disease caused by the coronavirus, COVID-19, progresses over a period of weeks — and because these numbers are constantly changing — it is not static and very likely to continue changing. It is not a reflection of the likelihood that any given person will die if infected.

More: https://www.businessinsider.com/south-korea-coronavirus-testing-death-rate-2020-3

[TwilightZone]

1. The issue with most of the published death rates is that they don't factor in unknown cases.

Death rate: deaths/(known cases + unknown cases)

The problem, of course, is that we don't have a firm idea what the ratio is between known cases and unknown cases. The numbers from South Korea may be a good indicator.

[AlexSFCA]

3. but it's the same for any other virus

the fact that it is significantly deadlier and more contagious than flu is clear.

[genxlib]

2. It is certainly possible that the death rate is that low.

But it is also possible that the ease of testing has allowed people to behave more appropriately. Having the opportunity to get tested so quickly helps to keep people from interacting with vulnerable populations.

[matt819]

4. Then there are the recovered

The number of recovered in the US has held firm at 8 for more than a week, i think. Fair enough. It takes longer than that to be sure one is no longer sick.

Also, I wonder whether the recovereds are going to be reported as timely or as accurately at the infections. After all, if some in that category go home to recover, or self-quarantine, and then don't confirm that they're okay and recovered, the data won't be accurate, leaving a hole in the analysis. Also possibly lost in the shuffle are those people who may die later, not necessarily of COVID-19 but because they had COVID-19.

The point made about mortality rates being different is a good one, and it points out how important it is for ill people or people showing even relatively minor symptoms to be tested more broadly. It may very well show a lower mortality rate, which is valuable information. Right now, in the US, based on what's available, you have to go with the higher mortality rate in making policy and medical decisions. This is idiotic, which is not surprising because we have an idiot in the WH.

I think the run-of-the-mill flu variations that raise their ugly heads every year are variations of each other. And the vaccines we get reflect, more or less, the worst of these. I wonder if this virus will mutate, how and when that might happen, and what it means for the efforts being undertaken worldwide (except in the US - see idiot, above).

[pat_k]

5. Whatever the mortality rate, containment is vital

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213048575