These supposed death rates also appear to vary widely by geography: Germany’s fatality rate appears to be roughly one-tenth of Italy’s; and Los Angeles’ about half of New York’s. The thousands of people with COVID-19 who died this week in the United States were most likely infected as far back as a month ago. The ship’s “case fatality rate,” which included only those who showed symptoms, was 2.6%, according to a study by researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, while the “infection fatality rate,” which included those who tested positive yet remained asymptomatic, was 1.3%. The infection fatality rate of seasonal flu strains, which kill tens of thousands of Americans each year, is about 0.1%. And it is the virus’s transmission rate, as much as its infection fatality rate, that is preoccupying public health experts trying to find a way forward.

Source: bd News24 April 17, 2020 16:41 UTC