@guysmom wrote:
What is interesting most to me is NOT the number of cases. We in the US will see a HUGE spike in the number of infected persons soon enough, because of the number of tests being done. But what interests me, in comparing the US with other countries, is the death rate. That's what I'm keeping my eye on. Not to minimize ANY single death from this, but the chart shows that the death rate in the US, compared to Italy, is quite low right now. Let's hope it stays that way.
Italy's death rate compared with S. Korea's seems to have something to do with the age of their population and smokers. This was a recent CNN piece asking why S. Korea has much fewer deaths:
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www.cnn.com]
I'm not entirely convinced that age, alone, has been a factor in death rates. It may be. But, what seems most important is whether the person has a pre-existing condition, such as diabetes, lung disease, heart disease, etc. that makes their bodies more vulnerable to the virus. Even then, it's not absolute. The chances of death are certainly much higher, but not absolute.
Overall, hospitalization (and potentially overwhelming the system) is the greatest worry.
If someone has the time, maybe they can look up the demographics of the U.S. compared with Italy's. What percentage are smokers? What percentage are seniors? ...etc.