Good News: COVID Not As Deadly As Feared – Bad News: We Are Early In The Epidemic
Written by 991KBU on April 21, 2020
A major study on the number of people in Los Angeles … who have antibodies against Coronavirus in their blood … has been issued.
And it shows that hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles County residents may have been infected with the coronavirus.
Extrapolating the data … the USC-Health Department study shows 4.1% of adults have antibodies to the virus in their blood.
Dr. Neeraj Sood … vice dean at USC Price School of Public Policy … says the study shows Coronavirus is carried by large numbers of people … who don’t know it.
And that is good news … the fatality rate may be much lower than previously thought.
NEWSCART 75542 SOOD ONE
“Mortality rates estimated based on confirmed cases are going to be much higher than mortality rates based on the number of infections or the estimated number of infections
“So we could say maybe the good news is maybe the good news is that the mortality rates is maybe going to be slightly lower than what we thought it would be.”
That’s the good news … says Doctor Barbara Ferrer.
NEWSCART 75540 FERRER RAY OF HOPE
“The mortality rate now has dropped a lot the mortality rate has dropped from 4.5 percent to more like either one or two percent depending on which number you choose to use which I think does provide us with some hope.
The bad news is that the infection rate still falls far short of herd immunity that, absent a vaccine, would be key to return to normal life.
Again … study Director Neeraj Sood.
NEWSCART 75541 SOOD TWO
“What the findings show is that only 4 percent of the population has been infected … which means we are very early in the epidemic and that many more people in LA County could potentially be infected.
“and as those number of infections rise so will the number of desks the number of hospitalizations and the number of ICU admissions.
All this translates to a disease that is on roughly 221,000 to 442,000 adults … among the 10 million people in L A County ,… who have recovered from an infection.
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The death toll from the COVID 19 virus in Los Angeles County has now hit 617 … and 13 thousand 816 cases have been confirmed.
Number of cases confirmed in Malibu . 23…
Santa Monica Mountains … 7.
Calabasas 26.
Agoura Hills 29.
Pacific Palisades 33.
Santa Monica … 124.
The first major testing center operated by L A County on the westside opened yesterday.
It’s at the Forum in Inglewood.
Persons with symptoms of the disease can get an appointment for a test there.
Although the westside has not had any major drive thru testing operated by the county … the percentage of people who have insurance and access to tests from their doctors is much higher … on the affluent west side of LA County.
