Trump says US mortality from coronavirus is “one of the lowest” in the world: is it

US President Donald Trump said the death rate from coronavirus infection in the United States is “one of the lowest in the world.” Writes about this USA Today.

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Dr. Deborah Birx, who heads the White House coronavirus task force, echoed that claim at the briefing, saying the United States has "one of the lowest death rates in the entire world."

Neither Trump nor Birks referred to specific statistics or studies in support of their allegations, but both used the death rate as evidence that the country was making progress in the fight against coronavirus.

This is where the United States is, according to Johns Hopkins University:

USA is in 33rd place by mortality rate from 134 countries. The mortality rate is measured as follows: mortality divided by the total number of cases. This means that in more than 100 countries the mortality rate is lower than in the United States, in many of them relatively few cases are recorded.

Compared to ten countries with many infections, USA ranks second from the end of the list in terms of mortality. This means that in eight of these countries most affected by coronavirus, mortality is higher than in the United States.

The United States ranks 12th in the world in the number of deaths per 100 people.

When mortality was measured per 100 among the ten countries with the highest number of cases, the United States came in seventh and Iran, Germany and China reported lower deaths per 000.

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Experts say Trump’s comments hide the fact that, for several indicators, the mortality rate in the US is lower than in many other countries. However, they cautioned that a lack of testing in the United States could underestimate the total number of COVID-19 cases. If the total number of cases is actually higher, this will mean that current data may overstate the mortality rate.

As of Wednesday, April 22, in the United States, the mortality rate was 5,4% of the total number of cases, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

With the 33rd highest rate in the world, the US rate is ahead of countries such as Canada (4,8%), Portugal (3,6%) and Germany (3,4%). Countries with higher death rates include Belgium (14,6%), Italy (13,4%) and the UK (13,4%).

Among the ten countries most affected by coronavirus, eight have a higher mortality rate based on the percentage of total cases. Among them are Belgium (14,6%), Italy (13,4%) and France (13,1%), which reported higher mortality compared to the United States. Only Germany (3,4%) has a lower mortality rate among these countries.

The White House declined to comment, but an administration spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, indicated that the per capita mortality rate in the US is “lower than in most major Western countries and China.”

The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment asking for clarification on the president’s words.

Trump made this statement at a coronavirus task force briefing on Saturday, April 19, when he said that “per capita mortality rates are much lower than in other countries in Western Europe, with the possible exception of Germany. This includes the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and France. ”

In the United States, there are about 100 deaths per 000 people, the 13,71th highest among 12 countries.

Here's what on Wednesday, April 22, Johns Hopkins University reported on the countries that Trump mentioned at a Saturday briefing:

• Germany: 6,07 deaths per 100
• USA: 13,71 deaths per 100
• Switzerland: 17,35 deaths per 100
• Netherlands: 22,80 deaths per 100
• UK: 26,14 deaths per 100
• France: 31,09 deaths per 100
• Italy: 40,79 deaths per 100
• Belgium: 52,51 deaths per 100

Among the ten most affected countries, the United States is fourth in mortality per 100. Only Germany (000), Iran (6,07) and China (6,48) have lower rates. Italy (0,33), Spain (40,79) and Belgium (45,55) have higher rates.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University note that mortality statistics across countries differ in part due to differences in testing, demographics, health system characteristics, and other factors.

Why mortality in some countries, such as Germany and South Korea, was lower, is still a matter of debate, especially in connection with ongoing efforts to combat the pandemic, said Michael Gunn, professor of immunology at Duke University School of Medicine.

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In countries like Germany, there was a "very aggressive testing program" that allowed them to detect coronavirus and prescribe to patients "before they get worse," Gann said.

In the United States, "people were tested much later, when they were already sick," he said, and as a result of the "lack of testing" in the US, "we don’t know how many people are really infected."

As a result, “no one can say” that the United States has one of the lowest rates in the world, he said.

Additionally, in Italy, say, “where the number of patients requiring hospitalization or intensive care has overwhelmed the medical system, we are seeing a marked increase in mortality,” Gunn said.

Donald Fortal, head of the department of infectious diseases at the University of California at Irvine, said Trump’s claim that the United States has one of the lowest mortality rates would be incorrect, based on current data that were “unprocessed and inaccurate” due to testing issues .

There are “many unregistered cases for each documented case,” which makes it difficult to calculate mortality as a percentage of the total number of cases.

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