News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:How Bad Is the Coronavirus? Let’s Run the Numbers by ChuckMcM on Saturday March 14, 2020 @05:05PM (#22578688)
> Does this mean that there's a good chance the death rate is lower than the current calculated 3% with so many recoveries going unreported?

Yes and no. I'm not a doctor so an actual MD will step in here and correct me I'm sure. My understanding from reading both the CDC literature and the WHO literature is that there are two things, the SAR_nCOV2 virus which is out there spreading from host to host, and the COVID19 disease which is one manifestation of the virus in people.

If my understanding is correct, the answer is that not everyone who gets infected by the virus will develop the disease. That can happen for a number of reasons apparently including but not limited to, a small enough sample got your immune system going fast enough that you didn't develop the disease, or you have previously been exposed to something similar enough that your immune system got ahead of the virus, or during the course of the infection your lungs didn't get involved before the immune system had begun producing anti-bodies.

To explain the numbers, the fatality rate is a function of only those people who develop the disease. Your chance of developing the disease is a function of how strong your immune system is and so it develops more commonly in people with weak or otherwise compromised immune systems.

But take this as just one opinion based on reading the literature. It sounds to me as if it is similar to the difference between HIV and AIDS, where you can become infected with the HIV virus but not develop AIDS if that virus is kept minimized with anti-virals.

Re:How Bad Is the Coronavirus? Let’s Run the Numbers by maxerickson on Saturday March 14, 2020 @05:28PM (#22578849)
Can you please post a source for asymptomatic infection with SARS-CoV-2 not being considered a COVID-19 infection? Your opinion isn't good enough.

Here's the WHO drawing a pretty limited distinction, with one name being used for science and one for public communication:

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2...

Re:How Bad Is the Coronavirus? Let’s Run the Numbers by Fjolsvith on Sunday March 15, 2020 @02:05AM (#22581665)
John Hopkins states:

"COVID-19 is the disease, SARS-2-CoV is the virus." [1]

1. https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_ABX...

Re:How Bad Is the Coronavirus? Let’s Run the Numbers by maxerickson on Sunday March 15, 2020 @07:02AM (#22582735)
Yes, that matches the WHO stuff I linked and contradicts Chuck's opinion about asymptomatic infections.

For instance, it says:

Estimates are ~80% of infections non-severe, including asymptomatic infection likely.

The language there doesn't separate the asymptomatic infections from the disease.