Why are deaths still so high?

[likeamillpond]

Deaths are averaging 400 a day.

What happened to the
"We have better treatments now.
We give people steroids and the ventilation methods we use are better"
Because of this, people have a better chance of surviving covid than they did during the first wave"

This is the story we were sold. Right? (I didn't imagine it

And yet, the death rates are high.

Universities have definitely been a disaster covid wise and they could have locked down earlier. But you do have to balance this with fact that we just won't have any money soon and if we also shut universities we wouldn't have anyone to rebuild the economy from its ashes.

@FatGirlShrinking

And yes absolutely right *@Staffy1*

"The proportion of deaths that mention COVID-19 on the death certificate decreases with a longer interval between the first positive specimen and date of death: 73.4% for those with an interval of 29-42 days and 48.1% for those with an interval of 43-60 days (Table 1)"

So the deaths 29 - 60 days after a Covid positive test are currently not reported at all, but that doesn't mean they aren't happening, just that they aren't being reported.

The deaths occurring 29-60 days after a positive test are still reported on the govt website.

@FleetwoodRaincoat

Because the entire thing has been badly handled by the government. They didn't lockdown soon enough, or for long enough initially, so never really got on top of it.

Opening up universities was utterly ridiculous and, in my area at least, led to a huge spike in cases.

Deaths are up again since shopping was allowed. I'm not blaming the public, after all everyone's desperate to get out and about, but the government should be taking more responsibilty for their citizens' health and not allowing us all to go out and mix.

With a vaccination programme started, it shouldn't take too much longer before the most vulnerable are protected and then we could afford to relax a bit. But Christmas is far, far too soon.

The government also has a responsibility to keep the economy as active as possible. People's livelihoods and long term well being are at stake. We can't keep businesses closed indefinitely. And yes we do have a responsibility on an individual level to be as safe and careful as possible.

deaths are up because covid is deadly for a small percentage of people but that small percentage is actually quite a big figure depending on what context you chose to look at it in. We have more cases so we have more deaths.

Treatment is marginally better than in the spring but it’s not foolproof.

I’m not really sure what you were expecting given the rise in cases?

@notevenat20

Universities have definitely been a disaster covid wise and they could have locked down earlier. But you do have to balance this with fact that we just won't have any money soon and if we also shut universities we wouldn't have anyone to rebuild the economy from its ashes.

Do people without degrees never buy anything then?

Because most of the deaths are in the 85+ category who are generally quite frail regardless of treatments.

@FleetwoodRaincoat

Because the entire thing has been badly handled by the government. They didn't lockdown soon enough, or for long enough initially, so never really got on top of it.

Opening up universities was utterly ridiculous and, in my area at least, led to a huge spike in cases.

Deaths are up again since shopping was allowed. I'm not blaming the public, after all everyone's desperate to get out and about, but the government should be taking more responsibilty for their citizens' health and not allowing us all to go out and mix.

With a vaccination programme started, it shouldn't take too much longer before the most vulnerable are protected and then we could afford to relax a bit. But Christmas is far, far too soon.

Although much of Europe is in a similar position atm. German daily cases higher.

Germany is at least introducing a tough response over Xmas, ours seems to be Relax, Lets do it!

Jajas it’s not good and I think we committed too early and now in a corner with cases rising. I do find that annoying.

[quote Lazypuppy]**@fatgirlshrinking you do realise that people dying with covid means people who die in a car accident, but had a positive test in the last 28 days. It also means someone who has terminal cancer, has a few days left to live, tests positive for covid, and then dies of their cancer.

There is a big difference between dying with covid and dying of covid, and this difference isn't reported.[/quote]
Absolutely spot on

It is also possible to die with cancer but of covid.

(Or, with both and of both, in that if either the cancer or the covid wasn't there the person would have lived for longer, but both together were too much for their body to deal with.)

@DumplingsAndStew

It's not that though is it. What about the very scientists and doctors, nurses who we are so desperately relying on to get us out of/through this. They need degrees! You can't study science and medicine over zoom. People keep dismissing university students as though they are only there to party/get drunk but many of them and what they study ARE the future.

Do people without degrees never buy anything then?

An economy is not just made of consumers. People without degrees do of course invent, innovate and create but there is a huge economic value in having an educated population.

Agree Marsha we did but from what i am seeing and hearing, few people are taking any notice of SD, so perhaps what Johnson does now would be ignored?

80k excess deaths... and around 400 to 500 per day.

Did anyone hear the nurse that gave out one of the first vaccinations?
she said "i have never known such a death toll, its way beyond anything any of us has experienced before" (i think thats a fairly accurate description of what she said)