After people were confined to their rooms, the average number of others to whom one infected person passed the virus dropped below one. This suggests that the quarantine averted a lot of infections. However, it wasn’t perfect: passengers could still infect their room-mates and crew members.Although insights from the ship about the virus’s spread and severity are valuable, it is difficult to draw lessons from its quarantine for those countries implementing similar lockdown measures. “A whole country is not a ship." March 26, 2020. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00885-w Out of the 697 who tested positive a month ago, seven people have died on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, 15 remain in critical condition. The seven deaths, out of the 697 who tested positive, make for a death rate of 1% on the ship. More deaths are also possible. All seven deaths so far were of passengers aged 70 or older. The researchers used the ship's data to estimate a death rate among those aged over 70 of 9 percent -- a very high death rate. Even a 0.5 percent death rate would make it five to 10 times deadlier than the flu this year. The CDC estimates that between 34-49 million Americans have had the flu this year already, with 20,000 - 50,000 deaths; that works out to a 0.05 - 0.1 percent death rate. "All age groups transmit the virus, but the outcomes are most severe in elderly -- don't expose them." March 13, 2020. https://www.foxnews.com/us/cruise-ship-data-helps-reveal-coronavirus-death-rate-researchersAs for as reporting, statistics and death counts coming out of China, their credibility is questionable. With respect to "shutting down the country", it comes down to reducing the number of deaths, especially among the elderly vs. suffering the economic consequences of doing so. Consider that the younger population can become infected and pass it on to the elderly. There's no easy answer.
Topic: Diamond Princess Cruiseship - the Perfect Covid19 Lab - Not in News (Read 180 times)