@IHME_UW (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation) and @UWMedicine (University of Washington’s School of Medicine), no lightweights, have come out with
global projections of #COVID19 by nation.
Short summary 👇
They modelled 3 scenarios: 1. Worse case:
- mask usage stays at current rates, and,
- governments continue relaxing social distancing requirements.
This leads to 4.0 million total deaths by the end of the year.
Best case:
- mask usage is near-universal, and,
- governments impose social distancing requirements when their daily death rate exceeds 8 per million.
This leads to 2.0 million total deaths if by the end of the year.
3. Most likely:
- individual mask use and other mitigation measures remain unchanged.
This leads to approximately 2.8 million total deaths by the end of the year.
Heavy humanistic, societal and economic burden, no matter which scenario you look at.
"To date, COVID-19 has followed seasonal patterns similar to #pneumonia, and if that correlation holds, northern countries can anticipate more cases in the late fall/winter.
Can any experts weigh in here? @MarionKoopmans@AlexWFriedrich1@c_drosten@CiesekSandra
Then comes the swift kicks to the nether regions.
Under the most likely scenarios, the nations with the highest per capita total deaths would be the US Virgin Islands, the #Netherlands (#NL, #nederland), and #Spain. @C19RedTeam@rivm@MinVWS
By @WHO regions, projected death by Jan 1
- 959,685 in #Americas,
- 667,811 in #European region,
- 79,583 in the #African Region,
- 168,711 in the Eastern #Mediterranean region,
- 738,427 in the South-East #Asia region, and,
- 191,598 in the Western #Pacific Region.
Massive.
The authors on #HerdImmunity:
The “worse-case” scenario in these projections reflects a situation where leaders allow transmission to run through their population, resulting in significant loss of life. #UK#SWEDEN#HerdMentality
The authors on #Containment:
“We all must learn from those leaders of nations where the virus has been contained, or where second waves of infections have occurred, and where swift action has been taken to prevent loss of life. #Germany#NewZealand#Denmark#SouthKorea
Methods:
Projections based on epidemiological model that includes data on cases, deaths, antibody prevalence, as well as location-specific COVID-19 testing rates, mobility, social distancing mandates, mask use, population density and age structure, and pneumonia seasonality.
Study objectives were to quantify the total disease burden of acute COVID-19 in the Netherlands in 2020 using the disability-adjusted life-years (DALY) measure, and to investigate how disease burden varies between age-groups and occupation categories.
Authors estimated:
- total years of life lost (YLL),
- years lived with disability (YLD),
- disability adjusted life years (DALY) due to COVID-19.
thelancet.com/journals/lance…
SARS-CoV-2 elimination, not mitigation, creates best outcomes for health, the economy, and civil liberties.
Public health, economic growth, democratic solidarity, and civil liberties are important factors when evaluating pandemic responses. There is mounting evidence that these objectives do not need to be in conflict in the COVID-19 response.
Countries that consistently aim for elimination—ie, maximum action to control SARS-CoV-2 and stop community transmission —have fared better than countries that opt for mitigation. (ie, action increased in a stepwise way to reduce cases so as not to overwhelm health-care systems)
Scientific consensus on the #COVID19 pandemic: we need to act now.
One look at the authors list, and you'll see thought leaders in their fields; working diligently and with scientific evidence to make a difference.
"Just facts" in here, nothing else. thelancet.com/lancet/article…
The #herdimmunity approach is a dangerous fallacy unsupported by the scientific evidence
The Barrington Declaration for focussed protection towards herd immunity has no basis in science and evidence. Full stop. It is a misguided self-aggrandising document, similar to the one circulating with patient zero at the White House.
We have technical resources, we have scientific expertise, we have diversity in our experiences- @rivm and #OMT should consider using all the help they can. @C19RedTeam has offered their cross-functional expertise. A pandemic isn't just a medical issue, it is a societal issue.
Rather than rejecting any/all collaboration, @rivm and #OMT (for all their excellence) need to be inclusive, swallow their pride and open up.
All the evidence that they have made their recommendations on, needs to be in public domain.
Have we misjudged the role of children in spreading #COVID19?
COVID19 research in to kid, especially younger ones, is not perfect. It has gaps, it is evolving and we are learning more by the day.
A short summary of evolving role of children 👇 cmaj.ca/content/192/38…
Statement from Ontario’s science advisory table:
- Kids may play a bigger role in the spread of #SARSCoV2 than initially suspected.
- Early suggestions that children are considerably less important drivers of transmission are not confirmed by more recent research.
Children less susceptible? 1. Contact tracing studies reported that children<10 years old are less likely to test positive.
Limitations: Studies underestimate infection rate in children if infected children are more likely to be asymptomatic than infected adults.
Huge respect for Aura but some of her responses are contentious. I thank her for the work that she and her team are doing in this ever developing #covid19 pandemic. But one didn't need to understand #coronavirus to implement certain rules. volkskrant.nl/ts-b73f5cef
Question: Maar anderzijds had u ook best kunnen adviseren: bescherm jezelf nou maar, voor de zekerheid.
Aura: Zeker. Maar dat is met de kennis van nu. Wat we in maart, april dachten te weten over het virus is achterhaald door de snelheid waarmee het zich bleek te verspreiden.
Has any of the field epidemiologists been involved in the decision making, they would have insisted on PPE/masks in healthcare/nursing homes.
Crisis management experts would have insisted it is better safe than sorry.