Why coronavirus' death and mortality rates differ
3 Apr, 2020In Italy, the death rate from Covid-19 is more than 10 times greater than in Germany. Why does the death rate vary so much internationally?
In Italy, an epicentre of the new coronavirus outbreak, the death rate at the end of March stood at a sobering 11%. Meanwhile in neighbouring Germany, the same virus led to fatality rates of just 1%. In China, it was 4%, while Israel had the lowest rate worldwide, at 0.35%.
At first it can seem surprising that the same virus – which doesn’t seem to have mutated significantly as it has spread – can lead to such widely differing reported mortality rates. And even within one country, the rate appears to change over time. So what’s going on?
Several main factors account for much of the difference we’re seeing – and perhaps the most important come down to simply how we’re counting, as well as testing, cases.