Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Why have deaths stayed steady while Covid-19 infections are spiking?

That low death rate is still encouraging, though ...

Opinion by Dr. Kent Sepkowitz
Updated 1851 GMT (0251 HKT) July 2, 2020

[...]

...The surge in cases has not been accompanied by a surge in deaths. There are many theories as to why: Given a two-week or longer lag period from infection to death, it may be too soon into the new wave for deaths to have spiked (probably); more young people could be infected this time around and they have a much lower risk of death (definitely); the current patients may have fewer co-morbid conditions than those in March and April (not so sure); initially, because of limited resources, tests were done only in the very sick whereas now we can test broadly, diagnosing thousands of otherwise healthy people at little risk of severe outcome (for sure).

Governors ignoring Covid-19 surge send a clear message to Black and Latinx communities
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/26/opinions/governors-ignoring-covid-surge-black-latinx-communities-munoz/index.html

Or maybe medical care has improved (not untrue).

Or perhaps the virus has weakened (not likely).

The list goes on and on.


[... to end ...]

Protecting nursing home residents is critical to preventing the high case fatality rate seen in the earlier outbreak occurring in Northern states. Unfortunately, as the CDC data shows, more infections are occurring in persons 65 and over in the affected regions -- just as hospitals already are full and health care workers are spent and demoralized .. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/opinion/coronavirus-arizona-hospitals.html .

Though a repeat of the devastation seen in the spring is unlikely, we should again prepare ourselves for scenes of overwhelmed emergency rooms, morgues and funeral homes -- and a federal government that cannot be bothered to develop a meaningful strategy to protect our most vulnerable citizens.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/02/opinions/steady-death-rate-covid-19-infections-spike-sepkowitz/index.html