COVID 19 Mortality Rates Are Often 3 Times Higher Than Spanish Flu Mortality

Alan: Every now and again I do mental calculations of the mortality rate in places where new data is being released.

Originally mortality rates of 6 to 8% were common.

But I assumed these were exaggerated figures attributable to epidemiological chaos in the early going.

And sure enough the mortality rate started to come down. There was a stretch when mortality seemed to range between 1% and 2%.


But today, Massachusetts published a new set of data and mortality was back up to nearly 8%.

And that MA report was followed by another similarly high number from upstate New York.

So...

What really interests me in the context of your post about the 1918 flu is that the mortality rate for The Spanish Flu is usually given as 2% yet these new mortality numbers for COVID-19 are coming in 3 to 4 times higher!?!

While still in Oaxaca over winter, I really enjoyed the following 50 minute video about the Spanish Flu. It's freely available on YouTube. Has some rough production values but it made a strong impression.

Near the end, the comparison of Philadelphia and San Francisco's very different approaches to public health measures made a huge difference in those cities' outcomes.

Free Online Documentary About The 1918 Spanish Flu
https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/03/free-online-documentary-about-spanish.html