We are explaining 3 reasons why coronavirus death rate is different in various countries
Number of deaths are one of the major ways to know the burden of any disease in various countries. COVID-19 has affected millions of lives. More than 30 lakhs of people are found coronavirus positive when we are writing this article. More than 2,11,663 people have died so far and 9,23,448 have recovered in more than 185 countries and regions. Countries are witnessing different case fatality ratios (CFR). CFR is the number of deaths divided by the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus. To simply put, we can call it coronavirus death rate.
Still, there is a lot that we don’t know about this deadly outbreak. However, broadly there could be three factors which decide the death rate in the country.
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3 reasons why the coronavirus death rate is different
1. The first one is the number of testing a country has done. Testing rates are very different in various countries. India is one of those countries where testing is widely seen as inadequate. More aggressive testing helps in finding more asymptomatic infected persons, people with less noticeable or milder symptoms. Since case fatality rate depends upon the total number of confirmed cases, and not the total number of cases (it can only be estimated), more testing lowers the ratio.
2. The second factor is demography. It is well-known that any virus poses a greater threat to those with weaker immunities. A vast majority of COVID-19 related deaths has occurred to people with co-morbid conditions. Elderly are more vulnerable so countries with older populations may suffer more deaths.
3. The third and last is the strength of healthcare systems. Hospitals in countries like Spain and Italy were flooded by patients and hence were not able to adequately care all of them. For India, where resources are limited (even PM Modi accepted) and critical care capacities constrained, the danger for the uncontrollable spread is more.
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Where do countries stand in CFR?
The United States, despite being the world power is suffering a great loss due to the global pandemic. It accounts for almost one-third of all the cases. Italy and Spain then follow, together accounting for nearly 14 per cent of the global cases.
CFR is observed different in countries. As per the John Hopkins University, the fatality rate is highest in Belgium (15.4 per cent), followed by France (14.1 per cent) and the UK and Italy at 13.5 per cent each. The US is witnessing CFR at 5.7 per cent.
Belgium deaths per 1 lakh population come at 62.11; most is the world. It is followed by Spain (49.63), Italy (44.09) and France (34.17).
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