03-10-2020, 10:11 AM
(03-10-2020, 08:19 AM)Au165 Wrote: I'm actually going to side with Trump on this, kind of. The mortality rate of this thing is being far overblown because of confirmation bias in how we have tested, even in the limited testing we have done. We generally have only tested the very sick and it would logically make sense that those who are very sick have a higher chance of death than those who show absolutely no symptoms at all. I was reading yesterday that outside of Italy, who apparently their are some questions about how they are testing, other countries that are testing at a much higher rate are showing far lower mortality rates (below 2%) because the sampling better reflects the high rate of carriers who show little to no symptoms from the disease.
Now is it still as low as the flu? No. However, the thing I read yesterday was essentially saying that the current rates in other developed countries who test at a higher rate are MUCH closer to flu than other corona viruses we have seen in the past like SARS or MERS. I still believe that this overreaction is doing far more harm than good and is another result of the endless 24 hour news cycle. I was around for H1N1 and I don't remember a literal counter talking about each new case or death, it's almost like we want to think we are in a dooms day scenario.
I'm actually with you on most of this. The biggest concern for this virus is what it typically is: immunocompromised folks. Standard virus precautions will do for the majority of people is just fine. But, because of the spread, it being something new, etc., it is still good to be cautious overall.
The administration response has definitely been a cluster ****, though, with conflicting and misleading information. It makes me concerned about an outbreak of a more serious nature under this presidency.
Edit: I would like to add that according to WHO, COVID-19 is less deadly that SARS was, but is more infectious. As to the counter, that is also a result of information access. There was a running death count on the WHO website with regular updates, but information is shared more easily than a decade ago and so they have much more detailed and regular updates.
"A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy..." - TR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR