[PLUG-TALK] Covid-19 mortality rates

[Rich Shepard]

On Wed, 11 Mar 2020, Galen Seitz wrote:

> Given that the covid-19 mortality rate is thought to be 5x or more that of
> seasonal flu, and that seasonal flu kills ~46000 each year,

Galen,

Yes, covid-19 will affect certain portions of the population more than
others, but using your flue mortality and Wikipedia's Jan. 28, 2020 estimate
of the US population at 329,227,746, the flu mortality rate is about 0.01%.

According to the CDC's web site, "70,237 drug overdose deaths occurred in
the United States in 2017." That's 0.02% of the population yet it doesn't
consume the news media, cause the stock market to crash, and close
businesses and schools.

Of course it's a serious disease but the current mortality rate is well
below that of SARS, (especially) MERS, swine flu, H1N1, and other diseases.

Regards,

Rich