You need to educate yourself on how the CDC comes up with their influenza estimates:
How CDC Estimates the Burden of Seasonal Influenza in the U.S. | CDC.
The current mortality rates, is 3% in the US based off of the information on hand (down from the initial 5.9%), globally it was
estimated at 3.4% back in March.
Is that number going to go down when we determine a way to estimate the total number of untested cases? Yes. By how much, no clue, best estimates that I've seen came from a UK study estimated the final mortality rate will fall between .7-1.2%.
Will it ever be as low as the .02% of H1N1 to satisfy
@Halph66 's implied belief that H1N1 was somehow worse and we didn't "freak out" over it? No.
For Covid 19's mortality rate to fall to .02%, we'd need to nearly triple the population and have them all get infected, and not have another person die from it. At our current death count, even if we assumed every single person in the United States (328 million) has been infected, we'd still end up with a mortality rate of .05%, twice as high as the estimated H1N1 mortality rate, and that's just using the numbers as of today, and not the final count.
So not even in the most fantastical of scenarios, is Covid 19 mortality ever going to be better than 2.5x greater than H1N1.
Statistics are great and you
@BeardedVol seem to have a very good understanding of how to look at the data and determine the numbers. It's much easier to determine the differences in the two viruses especially since we are 11 years removed from the H1N1 pandemic and 9 months into the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, when H1N1 started spreading there were no statistics on how bad the outbreak was going to be just like when Covid-19 started to spread there were no statistics. One can say that H1N1 spread quicker and to more people than Covid-19 ever will very rapidly. So during the onset of the virus things looked very alarming. The response to both viruses are diametrically opposed. My question is simply why the difference response?
Also, since the perception was that there was no way to treat Covid-19 doctors were left with only one option for patients with respiratory distress and that was to intubate. Unfortunately data now shows that the mortality rate for patients that were intubated were as high as 35%. This mistake could have made the death rates high which could skew the numbers. I am not implying that this is fact, but I question it. There are studies that show that the use of hydroxychloroquine sharply changed the death rates. I feel extremely sorry for the patients that died that did not have to. More on this below.
I also question why the CDC stated that there are no vaccines or medicines to prevent or cure Covid-19. That is simply not true. The media and CDC shouted down the President when he mentioned in April that hydroxychloroquine and zinc cured and prevented the spread of Covid-19. The CDC stated that hydroxychloroquine is not proven to work against Covid-19 and studies must be done prior to stating that it works. However, on August 22, 2005 the Virology Journal published and article; Chloroquine is a potent inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread.
Chloroquine is a potent inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread
I know of 25-30 people that are friends or relatives of friends that were administered hydroxychloroquine after going to the emergency room in respiratory distress that state there breathing improved to normal in 24-48 hours. I question why the CDC would state that there were not studies done and there were no medicines that work for Covid-19. That simply is not true.
@USAFgolferVol stated that my opinion was based on baseless speculation. I ask why would the CDC not want to use a medication that had been proven to work some 15 years prior to the outbreak? Why would the media shout down the President for making a statement that hydroxychloroquine cures Covid-19? I don't know the answers, but given the political climate and the shady back room deals that most politicians seem to have hand in I question what the motivation is? Is it money? Is it a political agenda? Is it hate for a certain ideology?
I have never heard the CDC once mention to go to the NIOSH website to educate oneself on ways to protect yourself with respiratory protection and infectious diseases. For those that don't know NIOSH is a Federal Agency of the CDC. NIOSH has thousands if not millions of documents of respiratory health. I have used their training for 30 plus years since my jobs keep me in chemical plants and refineries. I'm not going down the rabbit hole of wearing masks, but I urge everyone to educate yourself from NIOSH's website, nothing you are being told matches the tests and education that NIOSH publishes.
I forgot to add that in the Houston area the local media reported that all the major hospitals were at maxed capacity and some were ate 110%-115% capacity. Five hospital directors for the five largest hospitals in Houston had to make public appearances to state that what the media was saying was 100% false. They were at approximately 40%-45% capacity. I ask why would the media want to spew such garbage? What's the end game?
I contend that as long as there are ambiguous statements I will continue to question the statements, when my education, training and experiences tell me different. So
@USAFgolferVol you can say I have baseless speculation, I disagree. My speculation is just different than yours.
I've wasted enough of my life with this subject on to bigger and better things. I hope everyone stays safe and we can have future conversations about our beloved Vols. GBO!
