I love numbers. And I’ve noticed a statistic that no-one in the media, left or right, seems to have picked up on yet – the death rate of Covid-19 in the USA.
When someone contracts the virus, there are two possible outcomes – recovery or death.
Around the world, the percentage of outcomes that result in death stands at around 2%. 98% recover. 2% die.
In America, however, this rate, at time of writing, is 17%. Four weeks ago, it was 30%. There’re a few reasons for why this could be and none of them are good.
They’re not testing people who have possibly recovered.
With a shortage of tests, they may be allocating them to new cases, rather than known cases. And once someone recovers, they just send them home. That’s possible, but also really alarming, because if they don’t have enough tests to check whether people are better or not, how do they know they’re not still infectious? And how many other people aren’t getting access to tests? How many people, right now, are walking around on a Florida beach completely oblivious to the fact that they are, in fact, Typhoid Mary. Or Covid Connie?
The actual number is 2%, but the number of known cases is underestimated.
This is even worse, because if the actual number of deaths is 2%, then that means that the number of infected people is actually 8.5 times higher than currently reported. So instead of 1,745,803 people infected, the actual number is 14,839,325. And 13 million of them don’t know it.
Healthcare in America is actually terrible.
Healthcare has been a hot topic in the USA since Obama brought out the Affordable Care Act. Unlike Australia, where if you get sick, you go to the doctor and Medicare covers most or all of the cost, in America you need health insurance. And most health insurance won’t cover everything, because it’s run by private corporations. Medical bankruptcy is a real thing in America. In most years about 250,000 people file for medical bankruptcy. This year is going to suck.
A lot of people can’t afford health insurance. And they can’t afford not to work. So you’ve got people getting sick, not getting diagnosed, and now going to work in their newly reopened states.
This isn’t going to end well.
Of course, it could be a combination of all three. If you’re in America and you’re reading this, wash your hands, wear a mask and stay home. It’s not safe out there, despite what your very stable genius is telling you.
Stars and Strike 