Originally Posted by
Radgirl
If you get the virus, the death rate is far far higher. Initially China said 1-2% but their figures are incredible. In Europe they are running at high single figures. In the UK early reports suggest 50% death rates on ITU. So if you go with the herd immunity nonsense in the UK, try to get 70% of the country infected and effectively kill 500,000 to 3,283,000 of your fellow citizens, you need to redraw the graph completely. And then get locked up or sent to the funny farm.
The death rates depend on testing though. Germany had initially a death rate well below 1%, as the first wave was mostly younger and fit persons. It has since risen, but is still well below 2%. But of course that is only the case as there is quite a bit of testing being done, which is not the case in the UK for example. A surprisingly high number of infected persons do not show any symptoms, or very light symptoms which many simply do not identify if they are not tested. Therefore it is imperative to develop fast and widespread antibody testing to get a real idea how many have had Covid-19.