A US doctor is warning Americans that the coronavirus epidemic is moving too quickly to have an accurate death and illness rate.
On Tuesday, the World Health Organization announced the global mortality rate jumped to 3.4 percent, up from the previously reported two percent.
But Dr Jennifer Ashton, ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent, told Good Morning America that people should not be panicking over the rate increasing.
She added that researchers are collecting data ‘by the hour’ and that the illness and mortality rates could change on any given day,
Dr Jennifer Ashton (pictured), ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent, advised people not to panic after the World Health Organization raised the global death rate from coronavirus from 2% to 3.4%
She said the rate is subject to change constantly because researchers don’t know the exact number of people who’ve fallen ill. Pictured: Dr Ashton (left) speaks to Amy Robach (right)
In the US, about 165 cases have been confirmed and 11 deaths, in California and Washington, have occurred
‘I really caution people not to hang their hat on any given number,’ said Dr Ashton.
‘This is a dynamic and evolving situation. We’re collecting data literally by the hour and that mortality rate depends on the denominator. It depends on how many people are truly infected and that number is still unknown.’
Dr Ashton echoed the words of federal health officials, who’ve told Congress that it’s still too early to determine US death rates from coronavirus.
During a meeting of the House Appropriations subcommittee on Wednesday, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it’s too early to report the rate because it’s unknown how many have been infected with the disease.
He explained that researchers are still trying to work out the exact number of people who’ve fallen ill, because some may be asymptomatic.
Rep Andy Harris (R-MD) asked whether fatality rates were unreliable noting: ‘We don’t know the denominator.’
‘You said it, sir,’ Dr Fauci replied.
Worldwide, more than 96,000 people have been infected and more than 3,300 people have died
‘If you look at the cases that have come to the attention of the medical authorities, in China, and you just do the math – the math is about two percent. If you look at certain age groups, certain risk groups, the fatality is much higher.’
According to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the overall fatality rate for coronavirus within the country is 2.3 percent.
But among people aged 80 or older, the fatality rate in China is 14.8 percent, 1.3 percent for people in their 50s and 0.4 percent in 40-somethings.
This likely indicates that the older patients either had other diseases at the time they were infected, weaker immune systems, or just worse overall health.
Similarly, in the US, the death rate is about 6.5 percent – 11 people have died out of the 165 cases reported.
Dr Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said the rate in China among older people is higher than the overall rate. Pictured: A man visits a hospital in Wuhan, March 4
The overall fatality rate for coronavirus within Chian is 2.3 percent, but among people aged 80 or older, the fatality rate in China is 14.8 percent. Pictured: A man wearing a face mask pushing a person on wheelchair along a street in Wuhan, March 4
The higher death rate among older people likely indicates that the older patients either had other diseases at the time they were infected, weaker immune systems, or just worse overall health. Pictured: An equipment service worker sprays a disinfectant throughout a metro bus at the King County Metro Atlantic/Central operating base, March 4
Dr Fauci said the morality rate for coronavirus could be less than 1% if there are asymptomatic cases that are not being reported. Pictured: An MTA cleaning staff member disinfects the 86th Street Q train station, March 4
But, of the patients who have died, one was in his 40s, two in their 50s and everyone else age 70 or above.
In an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine published last week, Dr Fauci wrote that the morality rate of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus may be ‘considerably less than [one percent].’
‘If one assumes that the number of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic cases is several times as high as the number of reported cases, the case fatality rate may be considerably less than one percent,’ he wrote.
Worldwide, more than 96,000 have people have been infected and more than 3,300 people have died.