2021-06-08 08:15:48
UNDERSTANDING COVID STATISTICS!
Media/Govt are always talking about the stats, but have they explained them properly to the public? For example…
HOSPITALISATION:
According to our Government Health Department “COVID-19 Australia: Epidemiology Report 33’ p1 [1] “cases may be hospitalised for isolation purposes and not severe disease.” In fact some hospitalised cases might not even be ill with COVID at all - merely PCR positive and in “need” of isolation.
Note: SARS-CoV-2 is the VIRUS; and COVID-19 is the DISEASE [5]. COVID-19 is not a virus, it is a term used to represent a collection of signs and symptoms when associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. The great majority of community SARS-CoV-2 infections, do not result in severe illness (or do not become symptomatic) as stated by the WHO “Most people with COVID-19 experience mild symptoms or moderate illness” [6].
So, it is misleading to report all instances of the mere detection of the virus (or parts of the virus) in oral samples as “cases” or “COVID-19” - especially in the context of contact tracing without reference to symptom status. Media seldom report on the ongoing health status of PCR positive contacts. Not only are most infections not severe but even as much as 43% of infected people don’t get sick [4].
COVID-19 DEATHS:
COVID-19 associated deaths as of 17th Feb 2021 in Australia were 909. However, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics as of 31st Aug. 2020, 496 of 682 deaths had pre-existing chronic conditions and 8 of them were suspected COVID-19 but the presence of the virus was not confirmed. “72.7% of people whose deaths were associated with COVID-19 had pre-existing chronic conditions certified on the death certificate” [2]. Similarly in USA, the CDC state that out of the 421,378 “deaths from COVID-19”, 94% of them had co-morbidities or other conditions listed on the death certificate [3]. So it is misleading to attribute the death solely to the virus.
References:
[1] https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/novel_coronavirus_2019_ncov_weekly_epidemiology_reports_australia_2020.htmthen click on: https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/1D03BCB527F40C8BCA258503000302EB/$File/covid_19_australia_epidemiology_report_33_fortnightly_reporting_period_ending_17_january_2021.pdf[2][2]
[2] https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/covid-19-mortality-0
[3] https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/mortality-overview.htm
[4] https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2013020 p1 and https://www.nejm.org/doi/suppl/10.1056/NEJMc2013020/suppl_file/nejmc2013020_appendix.pdf p2
“Calculated from PCR tests done on people from a cruise ship: Total people infected = 712. Total PCR positive people on the ship without symptoms = 410 ie 58% (410/712) Of those 410, 311 stayed well. Ie. 75%. (311/440 x 100). 43% of all the people infected stayed well. (311/712 x 100)”
[5] https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/naming-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-2019)-and-the-virus-that-causes-it
[6] https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/risk-comms-updates/update-36-long-term-symptoms.pdf ; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7088568/
197 views05:15