Covid-19 UK Vs India fatalities, I don't understand

[Thubten]

Dear All,
I'm finding the figures all very difficult to discern. Why are some countries infections/death figures so horrendous? Africa and India's figures are nowhere near as scary. Many people in India are living close together with no running water. You'd think the perfect grounds for spread but as of yesterday only 199 people had died in India. I just don't get it. What's going on?
(to be clear, long may the low death rates continue in those places).
Can NZ avoid it or will they just be infected once they open their borders? Is it as simple as closing till the worst of it is over? The virus will still exist, is it possible to avoid?

[BrokenBrit]

5G is not related to Coronavirus!!

[MarieQueenofScots]

Africa doesn't have 5G, maybe?

Please tell me that’s an attempt at humour and you didn’t type that in earnest?

[Devlesko]

Open mindedness is all it takes
or, you can sheeple your way through life.

Nah, but huge coincidence that everytime a new G is brought out there seems to be another virus.

[MarieQueenofScots]

you can sheeple your way through life

Because believing bonkers conspiracies is the real sign of an erudite and enquiring mind devoting time to critical thinking.

[ohthelockdown]

I am from India (living in London).
Number of deaths will be underreported in India. Always. There is no way to track it. Too many people fall through the crack. The government has implemented strict lockdown which will control it to some extent. But for the poor it will be horrible. It is an extremely hard problem to solve in countries like India with the huge population and poverty.
However, I am really disappointed with how most of the western countries have gone about it. In UK they are still not testing at scale. The entire herd immunity was a bust and caused the virus to spread, the late school closure,....the lockdown is a joke too.

[Devlesko]

Marie

Keeping an open mind doesn't make you a conspiracist, I can tell how narrow yours is Anything you haven't been told is a conspiracy. lol.

[TheABC]

I really hope India does have a handle on it and gets off lightly through testing and tracking. The logistical numbers for that subcontinent are staggering and so will the deaths, if the virus takes hold.

[MarieQueenofScots]

So you’ve got an open-mind yet anyone who doesn’t believe in crackpot and unfounded theories is close-minded.

Now examine the irony.

I know there’s a real fashion on MN to revel in ignorance as some sort of badge of honour, but do at least try and post salient thought not regurgitated nonsense.

[lljkk]

Age pyramids are rather different. I know it's fashionable to say covid is "indiscriminate", but that's bogus. Older adults get it much worse.

Another way that covid discriminates is that people with chronic health conditions get it worse. The NHS does an amazing job keeping those with morbidities people alive. India does not. Those folk already died of their serious health problem.

[H1978]

Being an indian with family, there I have a feeling something major will happen there soon

If people are dying in the poorer areas I doubt it’ll even be reported so definitely something not right on numbers quoted so far but time will tell

[Kevin101]

Does anybody smell a bit rat in all this?

[ocarinan]

Open mindedness is all it takes grin
or, you can sheeple your way through life.

Nah, but huge coincidence that everytime a new G is brought out there seems to be another virus.

Wait, I thought that according to you sheeple were people who work normal jobs. But you're saying that you're also a conspiracy loon?

Are you saying that the rollout of 4G in the UK caused the Ebola epidemic in West Africa?

[TheSheepofWallSt]

On figures- I’ve got quite an international group of mates (travelled a lot in an earlier life).

Friend in Wuhan says they think final figures massively underreported- people were dropping dead in the street. They saw this with their own eyes. I believe them - google “crematorium + wuhan” and see what you get.

Friends in India and Pakistan- a number of- are worried. Less for themselves. They say they already know what will happen. Thousands dead in rural areas that won’t be attributed to covid because they won’t be tested- and nobody will care, frankly.
Cities and the elite will be tested etc.

Friend in Spain whose sister lives in Italy says that what isn’t being counted is the loss
of life from car accidents/ heart attacks etc where they simply don’t get medical attention- because no paramedics available
or whatever.

Believe me, OP, it’s awful everywhere. We’re relatively lucky in that we have a (relatively) democratically elected govt and (relative) transparency.

[KimchiLaLa]

In India they won't be testing all and we will never get an accurate picture of it there. Same as here but more extreme in that the poorer towns will not be tested and the rich will have access to private healthcare and will. India is not a good comparator.

[Egghead68]

Iljkk has it. The modelling work from Imperial suggests that outbreaks will be much less bad in developing countries because of their younger populations.

[Thubten]

@TheSheepofWallSt
Thanks for that

[KimchiLaLa]

www.instagram.com/tv/B-2ZoSWArEo/?igshid=15qhl9puiz9lt

Should tell you what you need to know. There's no way they have it under control.

[cinammonbuns]

It’s almost like you all are excitedly waiting for deaths in Africa and India to sky rocket. You can’t bare to think a disease hits Europe worse than it does Africa or India. Btw both those places have much less older population and better washing practices than the west (yes!).

Sorry they aren’t dying in mass like you guys all want.

[BigChocFrenzy]

"People going on about how amazing Germany is but failing to understand that they are not reporting the deaths in the same way as us."

WRONG
That is a myth, to excuse the lack of tests & resources in the UK
I live in Germany and follow the German news closely

@bunsyGirl, @GoldDay

Germany counts any deaths with CV as being from CV

The massive testing program enabled them to identify more people with CV and order them into complete isolation, no exercise outside, nothing - or big fines and even jail.
Their contacts were also traced, tested and isolated if need be

Deaths have been rising much more quickly recently, because the sheer number of cases has prevented full tracing, so they have missed many of the newer infections, which then spread.
However, reducing the earlier cases has helped the curve now.

And then those cases are monitored daily so that any deterioration is treated immediately to stop it getting worse

Also, Germany has 3 x the doctors, ICU beds, other hospital beds per 100,000 population than the UK
Massive spare capacity still, even after taking in patients from France and Italy - and donating some ventilators to the UK

So people with breathing difficulties can be admitted v early for treatment into hospital, which avoids many deaths
In the UK, many people - including on the MN "lungs" threads - have found ambulances aren't allowed to take them until they are turning blue, absolute crisis point

[TheCanterburyWhales]

Italy is absolutely counting deaths from other causes. What a silly thing to say. Obviously (well durrr) the people who die in RTAs have fallen (lockdown is far more stringent than the UK) because there are few cars on the road and no, they're not being included in the daily Covid statistics (clue being that they aren't dying from Covid)

[cantmovewont]

So my husband is in India right now and I used to live there. I am in regular What's App contact with the people who used to work for me.

One has left our city and gone to her rural village in Tamil Nadu. She is self isolating with another family. She is fine. Has food. Is not sick and doesn't know anyone who is sick. She isn't living in comfort but she is well and safe for now. She comes from a very poor background - cannot read or write.

Another is Muslim. Educated but not wealthy. He is very pious (wouldn't touch our dog, wouldn't go into a place that sells alcohol). His city centre mosque has been closed for weeks now. He is self isolating with his family - 3 generations under one roof (it's driving him crazy). He is well, his family are well. He doesn't know anyone that is sick (a VERY LARGE community). He just told me that any place with a case gets shut down immediately - the whole area gets sealed off.

They weren't testing when this all started. I know that for sure when a French friend took her son to the hospital with symptoms they refused to test for Corona but did quarantine him.

The Indian government was very quick to respond . They only gave several hours notice about lockdown which didn't give many the opportunity to go to the village, and lockdown is lockdown - no travelling between states.

For DH, he is very busy with work but when he does go out, there are police checkpoints - he got pulled over and was told he couldn't get past the checkpoint without a mask on. It is law that you have to wear a mask in public and you also get your temperature taken before you can enter the supermarket. They have also forbidden the sale of alcohol!!!

People in India are scared of Covid-19 and are listening to the government.

[Blackbear19]

I think just about every country will under report it.
Was there not something said about Germany if someone had Asthma etc the death was being reported as Asthma rather than covid?

The UK are really only recording tested cases, a care home with 16 deaths only 6 were tested and recorded in official figures.

Re herd immunity it will take time to decide if that was the right or wrong decision. Countries can't live in lockdown for 18 months to two years, vaccine is 12-18 months away and allow 6 months beyond that to manufacture and immunise everyone. If will flare up when people start returning to normal.

In Italy people are running out of money.

[TheCanterburyWhales]

In Italy the government has just passed unprecedented economic measures. Most non essential businesses can reopen. Families are being given shopping vouchers if they qualify and there is a rent/mortgage/utilities freeze.
Furloughing has been accepted en masse without having to fulfill the usual criteria.

But obviously some people will slip through that net. Generally the ones who have worked cash in hand.

[KimchiLaLa]

• It’s almost like you all are excitedly waiting for deaths in Africa and India to sky rocket. You can’t bare to think a disease hits Europe worse than it does Africa or India. Btw both those places have much less older population and better washing practices than the west (yes!).
  
  Sorry they aren’t dying in mass like you guys all want.*
  
  I'm indian, I have family in Bombay. I'm sure a lot of us are on this thread. It's just the way it is. Someone said people are obeying the govt, but I've seen images that say different. They're not even going to really know what's going on in details in the town with no running water and electricity. The video I posted shows people are not obeying the govt at all.

[Thubten]

@cinammonbuns
What a crazy and unkind thing to say. Nobody is suggesting that, not even near it!