A lot more people get it than die of it. Nobody quite understands its etiology. Some sufferers die of respiratory complications, others of non-respiratory organ damage. Most who catch it do not die - but some unknown number would have lasting damage done to them.
Since we only have one world, nobody knows what would have happened if the lockdowns had not been instituted. With social distancing, heightened hygiene and hand-washing the disease, like all other contagious diseases, is kept at a lower rate than otherwise: this time last year just in Australia we had over 57 thousand influenza cases. This year it 2-300 hundred.
A man in his 30s in the US dies of it and it's newsworthy, mainly because he thought it was a hoax - he made news out of schadenfreude more than anything else. How many people in their 30s die of influenza in 2019?
COVID 19 is a hideous flu-like corona virus (covid is
corona+
virus +
disease + discovered in 20
19). Is it more lethal than influenza? No.
InfectionsCOVID-19: The first cases appeared in China in late 2019 and the first confirmed case in the United States appeared in January 2020.
Approximately 12,291,645 cases have been confirmed worldwide. There have been 3,118,168 cases in the U.S. as of July 10, 2020.*
Flu: The World Health Organization estimates that 1 billion people worldwide get the flu every year.
In the U.S., for Oct. 1, 2019 Apr. 4, 2020, the CDC estimates that there were 39 million to 56 million cases of flu. (The CDC does not know the exact number because the flu is not a reportable disease in most parts of the U.S.)
DeathsCOVID-19: There have been approximately 555,486 deaths reported worldwide. In the U.S, 133,291 people have died of COVID-19, as of July 10, 2020.*
Flu: The World Health Organization estimates that 290,000 to 650,000 people die of flu-related causes every year worldwide.
In the U.S., from Oct. 1, 2019 Apr. 4, 2020, the CDC estimates that 24,000 to 62,000 people died from the flu. (The CDC does not know the exact number because the
flu is not a reportable disease in most parts of the U.S. or anywhere else. ed.)
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coron...See also chart:
but some unknown number would have lasting damage done to them.
Heard a researcher interviewed today quoting that unknown number as at least 30 % of those who survive a serious infection having permanent damage done and over 50% with the same issues that may eventually be rectified. Brain damage, lung issues (permanent breathing issues) Heart damage and most other organs can be impacted. Strokes, concentration issues and memory loss, heart arrhythmia's etc.