Completely agree. Just to add another source of differences between countries for this metric: Some countries test post-mortem (Italy) others don't (Germany).
Completely agree. Just to add another source of differences between countries for this metric: Some countries test post-mortem (Italy) others don't (Germany).
The explanation for the relatively low fatality rate I’ve heard is simply widespread testing catching many mild cases and relatively young patients because a lot of initial cases at least were linked to ski holidays and carnival events. Personally, I would add the hypothesis that Germans have far fewer interactions with family members across generations than especially Italy, but also the US. No one I know lived with their parents after finishing school. In the US, when Harvard shut down for the semester, the undergrads all went home to family. Here, students tend to live in regular apartments. And even those in student housing live there year-round, instead of vacating them during breaks and heading home.
I believe Austria and some other smaller European countries are also seeing at least similar CFRs, making Germany somewhat less exceptional.
For others: In the US, you can ~always request an autopsy.
cite: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/22/germany-low-co...
EDIT: Here is another source in cold print (search for "posthum"): https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article206741617/Coronav...
It's true and misleading at the same time. True: Germany doesn't do post-mortem tests on people not tested before. But at the same time, everyone who dies and has a SARS2-infection is counted as a COVID-death, whether or not they died from the infection.
But how do you know that they had a SARS-2 infection if you're not testing?
Source on the DE lack of PM Dx?
Thanks.