There are things we know about coronavirus. So, is the sky falling or was coronavirus an acorn falling on our head? Let’s start listing what we know.
We know coronavirus, Covid-19, is not the leading cause of death in the U.S. It is not even a close second. The most recent data from the CDC shows there were 135,579 deaths related to the virus. That is less than 10% of the more than 1.5 million deaths that have occurred in the U.S. so far this year.
The virus isn’t even the leading cause of death among the elderly. It does account for more than 9% of deaths among those 65 and older. Yet, cancer and heart disease continue to claim the most lives by far in this age group. Unintentional injuries cause the most deaths among people under 45.
The U.S. does not have the highest death rate worldwide
We know the U.S. does not have the highest COVID-19 death rate in the world. As of Aug. 3, there were 158,706 COVID-19-related deaths nationally. According to Worldometer’s data, this is the most in the world. But with a population of 330 million, the U.S. is also among the world’s most populous countries.
The more accurate metric of comparison is the virus death rate. By that standard, the U.S. ranks eighth among countries with populations of 1 million or more, behind Belgium, the U.K., Spain, Peru, Italy, Sweden, and Chile.
It is false that the U.S. has more confirmed cases than any other country because it has tested much more extensively than any other country
We know the U.S. does not have more confirmed cases than any other country because it has tested much more extensively than any other country. As of Aug. 2, the U.S. records nearly 181,000 tests per million people. That places us ninth in the world, behind the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Denmark, the U.K., Singapore, Russia, Lithuania, and Israel. All of those countries except Bahrain reported fewer cases per million than did the U.S.
We know that according to the CDC 42 children under 15 had died with the virus as of July 25. Not all who died with the virus; died from the virus. Of the 135,579 deaths associated with the virus 42 were among children under 15 representing about 0.3% of the deaths in this age group.
The virus is not even among the 10 leading causes of death among school-aged and preschool-aged children. Children under 15 account for less than 1% of COVID-19 deaths. The elderly account for 80% of deaths. Yet, public debate centers on reopening schools, not on making nursing homes safer. Why is that not using commonsense?