Mortality rate: we can change it

On social media, I keep reading “98% of infected survive the virus.”
For the sake of the argument let’s assume it’s true. I think it’s a terrible way to frame the pandemic.

First of all, that’s misleading. How many of those 98% suffer lung damage, temporary or permanent? We don’t have enough data to say yet, but it seems that the answer might be quite high. Also, how many of them spend the most terrible 3 weeks of their life?

Second: it misrepresents the problem. If 2% of infected die, how many people is that? It depends on the number of infected. And all those in the 98% are contagious and thus cause more people to be infected and eventually die. That’s why we need to avoid infections, even if the infected will survive.

Third. The coronavirus pandemic will cause many deaths for causes other than the virus. For example, if the hospitals are overworked because of coronavirus patients, there will be more people dying of stroke, of heart attack, and so on.

Fourth, the most important point. Mortality is not a fixed number. We can change it.
If we protect the elder and the most vulnerable, mortality will go down. If we are careless and let the virus spread, causing our hospitals to be overcrowded, mortality will go up.

Do not listen to those who tell you that the outcome is already set in stone. We have direct control over how many people will die because of coronavirus.

We must take responsibility and act.

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