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U.S.A. TODAY
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump stated the United States’ coronavirus death rate is “among the lowest of any nation worldwide” on Tuesday.
Dr. Deborah Birx, who leads the White House coronavirus task force, echoed the claim at a news briefing, saying the United States had “among the most affordable death rates in the entire world.”
Neither Trump nor Birx cited a specific figure or research study to support their claims, but both used the mortality rate metric as proof America is making progress in battling coronavirus.
Here’s where the U.S. ranks, according to data from John Hopkins University:
- The U.S. has the 33 rd-highest death rate, measured as deaths divided by overall cases, out of the 134 countries tracked by Johns Hopkins. That means more than 100 countries have lower mortality rates than the U.S., although much of those countries reported relatively few cases.
- When compared only to the ten nations with the most cases, the U.S. ranks as the second-lowest death rate as a percentage of total cases. That suggests 8 of those countries hardest-hit by the coronavirus have higher mortality rates than the U.S.
- The U.S. ranks 12 th-highest worldwide when it comes to deaths per 100,000 people.
- When mortality is determined per 100,000 people amongst the ten nations with the most cases, the U.S. ranks seventh, with Iran, Germany, and China reporting lower varieties of deaths per 100,000 individuals.
Specialists said Trump’s remarks glossed over the truth that under numerous metrics, the U.S. mortality rate is worse than that of lots of other countries. They warned that the lack of testing in the United States could lead to an undercounting of overall COVID-19 cases. If the total variety of cases is in fact higher, that would suggest the present information may be overemphasizing the death rate.
As of Wednesday, the United States had a 5.4 th rate based on a portion of total cases, according to the Johns Hopkins information.
With the 33 rd-highest rate in the world, the U.S. rate exceeds nations like Canada (4.8%), Portugal (3.6%), and Germany (3.4%). Amongst those countries with higher death rates are Belgium (146%), Italy (134%) and the United Kingdom (134%).
Among those ten nations hardest-hit by the coronavirus, 8 nations have a higher death rate based upon a percentage of total cases– with countries like Belgium (146%), Italy (134%), and France (131%) reporting higher death rates than the U.S., according to the Johns Hopkins information. Just Germany (3.4%) has a lower mortality rate amongst those ten nations.
The White Home decreased to comment, but an administration main speaking on the condition of privacy pointed to the per capita death rate in the United States as “lower than the majority of major western countries and China.”
The Department of Health and Person Solutions did not react to a request for comment from U.S.A. TODAY requesting for explanation on the president’s comments.
Trump made that point in Saturday’s coronavirus task force rundown, when he said “on a per capita basis, our mortality rate is far lower than other nations of Western Europe, with the lone exception of perhaps Germany. This includes the UK, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, France.”
The United States has about 13.71 deaths per 100,000 people, or the 12 th-highest rate amongst the 134 in the Hopkins information, meaning only 11 nations have greater mortality measured on a per capita basis.
Here’s what the Johns Hopkins information stated Wednesday about the countries Trump pointed out in the Saturday briefing:
- Germany: 6.07 deaths per 100,000 individuals
- United States: 1371 deaths per 100,000 individuals
- Switzerland: 17.35 deaths per 100,000 people
- Netherlands: 22.80 deaths per 100,000 people
- United Kingdom: 26.14 deaths per 100,000 individuals
- France: 31.09 deaths per 100,000 individuals
- Italy: 40.79 deaths per 100,000 individuals
- Belgium: 52.51 deaths per 100,000 individuals
Among those ten countries hardest-hit, the U.S. ranks fourth-lowest in terms of deaths per 100,000 individuals. Simply Germany (6.07), Iran (6.48), and China (0.33) have lower rates. Italy (4079), Spain (4555) and Belgium (5251) have greater rates.
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Johns Hopkins University researchers keep in mind that mortality statistics vary amongst nations in part since of distinctions in testing, the demographics of other nations, characteristics of healthcare systems, and other factors.
Why exactly death rates in some nations like Germany and South Korea have been lower is still a matter of argument, especially as efforts to deal with the pandemic are ongoing, stated Michael Gunn, a professor in immunology at Duke University School of Medicine.
Countries like Germany had a “extremely aggressive testing program,” which allowed them to spot coronavirus and institute therapies for clients “prior to things got bad,” Gunn noted.
In the United States, “we might simply be catching people much later in the disease course,” he said, and as a result, the United States’ “lack of testing” implies ” we don’t know the number of people are really infected,” Gunn said.
As a result, “no one can state” that the United States has one of the most affordable rates in the world, he said.
In addition, in nations like Italy, “where the variety of patients needing hospitalization or vital care has overwhelmed the medical system, we have seen significant boosts in death,” Gunn stated.
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University of California-Irvine Division of Contagious Illness Chief Donald Forthal informed U.S.A. TODAY Trump’s statement about the U.S. having among the most affordable death rates would be incorrect based upon present data, however the information was “raw and unreliable” since of issues with the “accessibility of testing.”
There were “great deals of undocumented cases for every single recorded case,” which would make the computation of deaths as a portion of total cases “hard to establish.”
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