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Studies Point to Big Drop in Covid-19 Death Rates

npr.org

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Re: Studies Point to Big Drop in Covid-19 Death Rates

#3

Post by AndrewBissell »

maxharris wrote: post #2

I am not surprised by this one bit. I've been looking at these charts daily, and it's a bit silly to need confirmation from a study: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

Agreed, however the media has been singularly focused on new cases as a measure of the pandemic's severity. To me the news here is as much "NPR reports on the falling COVID death rate."

Even here they seem insistent that the lower death rate is attributable to "flattening the curve" even though there's almost no correlation at this point.

Re: Studies Point to Big Drop in Covid-19 Death Rates

#5

Post by inyourtenement »

AndrewBissell wrote: post #3
maxharris wrote: post #2

I am not surprised by this one bit. I've been looking at these charts daily, and it's a bit silly to need confirmation from a study: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

Agreed, however the media has been singularly focused on new cases as a measure of the pandemic's severity. To me the news here is as much "NPR reports on the falling COVID death rate." Even here they seem insistent that the lower death rate is attributable to "flattening the curve" even though there's almost no correlation at this point.

What are you referring to? The bulk of the article is about hospitals having more experience and standardizing protocols. Then they mention masks and social distancing as possibly reducing the viral load. They never mention "flattening the curve", but one of the last things they mention is keeping hospitals under capacity.

Re: Studies Point to Big Drop in Covid-19 Death Rates

#7

Post by gnusty_gnurc »

m0zg wrote: post #4

Probably because governors are no longer deliberately putting COVID patients into nursing homes. This is why NY and NJ have 3 times (!) the death rate of Italy.

I'm shocked how many people think Cuomo is a good leader when he (along with Murphy) made perhaps the most catastrophic choice of the pandemic so far.

Re: Studies Point to Big Drop in Covid-19 Death Rates

#8

Post by dragonwriter »

If low-risk groups engaged in more risky behavior and no other factor changed, you'd expect death rates of hospitalized patients to drop because a larger share of the hospitalized would be from groups at lower risk of death if hospitalized with COVID.

Also, if hospitals learned more about interventions (like that ventilation wasn't appropriate as early or in as many cases as initially thought), and nothing else changed, same result.

Or if at-risk populations became more cautious, and/or less exposed due to policy (like better approaches to nursing homes), same result.

So, this is not even a tiny bit surprising. Nor does it indicate any reduced need for control measures.

Re: Studies Point to Big Drop in Covid-19 Death Rates

#9

Post by legerdemain »

dragonwriter wrote: post #8

If low-risk groups engaged in more risky behavior and no other factor changed , you'd expect death rates of hospitalized patients to drop because a larger share of the hospitalized would be from groups at lower risk of death if hospitalized with COVID. Also, if hospitals learned more about interventions (like that ventilation wasn't appropriate as early or in as many cases as initially thought), and nothing else chan…

The article says the analysis controlled for age. Survival has improved in every age range.

Re: Studies Point to Big Drop in Covid-19 Death Rates

#10

Post by m0zg »

gnusty_gnurc wrote: post #7
m0zg wrote: post #4

Probably because governors are no longer deliberately putting COVID patients into nursing homes. This is why NY and NJ have 3 times (!) the death rate of Italy.

I'm shocked how many people think Cuomo is a good leader when he (along with Murphy) made perhaps the most catastrophic choice of the pandemic so far.

Most people will believe whatever they read in the newspaper, and newspapers are unanimous in their opinion in this regard. As seniors were suffocating to death in the old folks homes, newspapers were pushing Cuomo as a _presidential candidate_.
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