Coronavirus Is Much Deadlier Than the Common Flu Despite Comparisons
By The Blaze. The coronavirus that is infecting thousands of people per day in China is much deadlier than the common flu, according to a new analysis by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in China.
Some, in downplaying the severity of the coronavirus outbreak, have pointed out how many people die from the common flu every year. During the 2017-18 flu season, about 61,000 people died.
Although the coronavirus has not yet registered such a high number of fatalities, early analysis indicates that there is reason to be more concerned about coronavirus than about the flu. From the New York Times:
An analysis of 44,672 coronavirus patients in China whose diagnoses were confirmed by laboratory testing has found that 1,023 had died by Feb. 11. That’s a fatality rate of 2.3 percent. Figures released on a daily basis suggest the rate has further increased in recent days.
That is far higher than the mortality rate of the seasonal flu, with which the new coronavirus has sometimes been compared. In the United States, flu fatality rates hover around 0.1 percent.
People saying 2.3% mortality rate is nothing to worry about
Some predictions say 40-70% of global population could be infected. Let’s say it’s 40, that means 64 million dead https://t.co/N1KY1e1Xxo
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) February 18, 2020
(Read more from “Coronavirus Is Much Deadlier Than the Common Flu Despite Comparisons” HERE)
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Americans on Coronavirus Cruise Ship Barred From U.S. After Failed Quarantine
By Ars Technica. On Wednesday, the initial 14-day quarantine aboard a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japan, officially ended. But the grueling saga seems far from for over for the ship’s 3,711 passengers and crew.
As the quarantine time ran out, Japanese officials were still reporting dozens of new cases of COVID-19 aboard. As of Wednesday, the number of coronavirus infections linked to the ship total 621—by far the largest cluster of COVID-19 infections anywhere outside of China. The next-largest cluster outside of China is in Singapore, which has 84 confirmed cases.
Japanese health officials are facing international criticism for their handling of the quarantine on the ship, the Diamond Princess. The quarantine was intended to curb the spread of disease by keeping people aboard, isolated from each other and from the public on land. But as cases mounted over the two weeks, it became clear that the control efforts only enabled the new coronavirus to spread. In fact, the 621 cases include at least three Japanese health officials, who were there to support the quarantine efforts but ended up becoming infected themselves.
“The quarantine process failed,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said Monday. “I’d like to sugarcoat it and try to be diplomatic about it, but it failed. People were getting infected on that ship. Something went awry in the process of the quarantining on that ship. I don’t know what it was, but a lot of people got infected on that ship.” (Read more from “Americans on Coronavirus Cruise Ship Barred From U.S. After Failed Quarantine” HERE)
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