Coronavirus crisis: Why COVID-19 death rates is higher in some countries?

New Delhi, Apr 28: India, on Tuesday recorded more than 900 fatalities due to the spread of novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours. To see the impact of any decease, it can be measured by seeing how many deaths it is causing.

Concerning the novel pandemic, that has infected more than 30 lakh people in 185 countries and regions and killed close to 2.1 lakh, has varied widely from one country to another.

It can be seen that scientists and researchers are working hard to find a solution and put an end to the spread of COVID-19. While many things about the novel coronavirus remain unknown, broadly speaking, CFR depends on three broad factors.

Firstly, the number of people tested. It can be seen that testing rates have been different in different parts of the world. India continues to be among those countries where testing is widely seen to be inadequate. Also, aggressive testing identifies more asymptomatic infected persons, and people with milder, less noticeable symptoms.

Since CFR relies on the number of confirmed cases, and not the total number of cases, more testing lowers the ratio.

Secondly, the demogrphy factor. As a general principle, any virus that poses a massive threat to those with weaker immunities, and a vast majority of deaths from COVID-19 have been of people with co-morbid conditions. Also, older people are more vulnerable as the virus has wreaked the greatest havoc in populations that are older.

Finally, the strength and capacity of healthcare systems also matter greatly. Countries like Spain or Italy, have seen their hospitals overwhelmed, and unable to adequately care for the patients flooding into the hospitals. In India, where resources are limited and critical care capacities constrained, the danger from an uncontrolled spread is that much greater.

According to the numbers, the US carries the greatest burden of coronavirus, accounting for nearly a third of all cases. Spain and Italy follow, together accounting for over 14 per cent of global cases.

According to the John Hopkins tracker, the highest mortality is in Belgium with 15.4 per cent, followed by France 14.1 per cent and the UK and Italy with 13.5 per cent.