Email of the day on COVID-19 death rates versus seasonal flu
Just sharing an interesting chart I got from the more complete email below, which seems to show worse numbers than what you sometimes mention in the videos?
Kind regards,
Thank you for these insightful graphics which depict how much more lethal than the seasonal flu COVID-19 is. I’ve been looking for a graphic depiction of this data for a while so this very welcome and I’m sure will be of interest to subscribers.
There is no doubt that COVID is more deadly than the seasonal flu and particularly for high risk elderly groups. However, it is also worth considering how low the mortality is for seasonal flu. The important point about this data is that it shows the CDC IFR figures as they were published rather than how they are reported. A 95% survival rate for over 70s is still a 5% chance of death and a lot worse than the seasonal flu.
However, it also worth remembering that deaths are focused in the over 80s and, even then, those with pre-existing conditions are the greatest risk. Every life is precious but I have had a number of people in my family who suffered from Alzheimer’s. Three of my grandmother’s siblings persisted in a semi vegetive state for more than a decade. Caring for them was a full-time job with family members working in shifts. Their ages at death were between 90 and 95 years old. However, most checked out from awareness of daily life years before that. Many of the deaths occurring now are in this demographic but that skew to the figures is not being discussed. Deaths from dementia are running at more than 20% above normal this year.
Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly have both paused trials of their respective treatments for COVID-19. Vaccine and antibody manufacturers are engaging in an abundance of care before releasing drugs.
Meanwhile China is planning on giving unregulated solutions to college students. We are going to get approved vaccines eventually and hopefully by the end of the year.
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