Why is Coronavirus Killing More People in Some Countries and Less in Others?

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Do you know the answer to the question?

Before I move further, I want to give you some background. My Data Analytics Study on the Coronavirus Pandemic is in its 15th day today and I have chosen 30 countries for this study. These countries have been chosen not just because these have reported the highest number of cases, but also because they comprise the most populated nations on earth – that is why Bangladesh, Nigeria and Vietnam are part of the study.

The Table with COVID-19 (also known as SARS-CoV-2 or 2019-nCoV) data from the chosen 30 countries comprises 663,904 Coronavirus cases (up 9.2% from 607,883 yesterday), which is 90.3% of the 735,041 cases (up 9.4% from 672,086 yesterday) reported worldwide at 10:00 am UTC today, and is therefore more than a good reference sample.

These 30 countries have recorded 33,833 deaths, which is 96.63% of the 35,013 deaths recorded globally. The average (or mean) “MORTALITY RATE” (how many with the disease have died) is 5.0804% – that means that almost 1 in 20 people with Coronavirus have died in these 30 countries. The median is about 2.8% and that is where India lies.

Italy has the most recorded deaths at 10,779, followed by Spain at 7,340, China at 3,304, Iran at 2,757, France at 2,606, and USA at 2,490.

The Top 10 countries in terms of Mortality Rate (Italy, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Spain, Netherlands, Iran, Egypt, France, UK, and Philippines) have recorded an average of 8.622% deaths out of the people tested positive for Coronavirus. That’s more than 1 in 11 people, a very high Mortality Rate.

The Middle 10 countries (Belgium, China, Sweden, Brazil, Japan, India, Switzerland, Mexico, USA, and South Korea) have recorded only a 2.626% Mortality Rate, which is just half of the average Mortality rates for the 30 countries in the Study.

The Bottom 10 countries (Vietnam, Australia, Russia, Thailand, Germany, Nigeria, Austria, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Turkey) have recorded only a 0.9354% Mortality Rate, which is just 18.4% of the average Mortality rates for the 30 countries. While we can possibly assume that Vietnam and Russia are under-reporting figures, and the figures for Nigeria are wrong, how do Australia, Thailand, and Germany have such low Mortality Rates? I don’t pretend to know the answers, as I am no expert on epidemiology. This Study is purely statistical.

However, like me, you must have also heard many “experts” say on TV (or videos / articles) that this Coronavirus pandemic has a very low mortality rate. I have heard figures of between 0.3% and 2% being talked about. The data seems to paint a very different picture, doesn’t it?

And why are some countries like Italy, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Spain and Netherlands reporting much higher Mortality Rates than the average?

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