One in Five Concluded Coronavirus Cases Resulted in Death

News By TooFab Staff |
Johns Hopkins University

Of the world's 263,190 concluded cases so far, 80 percent recovered -- 20 percent did not.

One in five of the world's concluded coronavirus cases resulted in death.

On Thursday, the number of recorded COVID-19 infections passed the one million mark for the first time.

According to latest figures from Worldometers, of the 1,007,626 reported cases worldwide, more than a quarter of them -- 263,190 -- are closed; i.e. cases which have had an outcome following treatment.

In possibly the most alarming stat to emerge from the pandemic so far, 210,838 of these patients have either recovered or been discharged, while 52,611 have died -- a mortality rate of 20 percent.

While the world struggles to stop the spread of the virus, analysts struggle to pull usable statistics from international figures. As renowned biostatistician Professor Sheila Bird told TooFab, international comparison of diagnosed/confirmed cases can be troublesome, "as access to COVID-antigen testing is highly variable between countries."

Johns Hopkins University figures, which are slightly behind Worldometers', confirm the same bleak outlook, as the number of dead versus recovered creeps toward 20 percent; as of Thursday afternoon it stood at 19.77 percent.

As for ongoing active cases, the breakdown is a little less grim: of the 744,721 active COVID-19 cases, 95 percent (707,009) are in mild condition, while 5 percent (37,712) are considered serious or critical.

The figures would be even further diluted as the number of asymptomatic patients are unknown; however getting tested is currently a struggle even for patients displaying symptoms in many parts of the world.

As a recent report in Swiss Medical Weekly points out, it is impossible to gauge an epidemic's true mortality rate until it has ended.

Last month Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said COVID-19 had a mortality rate of 1 percent - "ten times more lethal than the seasonal flu."

This week he warned that between 100,000 and 200,000 Americans could die of the disease.

The US has recorded almost 250,000 cases and more than 5,800 fatalaties so far -- 18 deaths per million population.

Got a story or a tip for us? Email TooFab editors at tips@toofab.com.