It's different in different countries too

Italy for example attributes all deaths to corona where the patient has it even if very ill anyway.

It will be take time to understand what has happened - I suspect the greatest harm done might transpire to be to those who don't have corona, but who go untreated/treated more slowly because of attention diverted to treatment of corona patients. Something like 11,000 people die in the UK every week, on average - so many of those who "die of corona" will (I guess) very likely have died quite soon anyway. The problem with corona seems to be that it transmits v easily, and though not particularly dangerous (on the whole) relatively often requires some treatment, which overwhelms the system, with consequences for others ...

I read today that lots of testing has taken place in Iceland, and it turns out that there, half of all carriers show no symptoms at all. I don't find (and excuse the expression in this context) the "cost/benefit" assessment of different measures easy to grasp - it would require a huge amount of data, and time to do so - and so, at the moment, most governments are acting in the most obviously "precautionary" way, which is understandable. Well, except, Trump, before long ....

Posted By: paulg, Mar 26, 11:34:17