04/21/2020
Good-ish news.
While the below doesn't imply that I am taking any less precautions to slow the spread, I find the information promising and I am here, ready, willing and able, to help you with your spinal health needs.
USC and the health department released preliminary study results that found that roughly 4.1% of the county’s adult population has antibodies to the coronavirus, estimating that between 221,000 adults to 442,000 adults in the county have had the infection.
This new estimate is 28 to 55 times higher than the 7,994 confirmed cases of COVID-19 [coronavirus illness] reported to the county in early April. The number of coronavirus-related deaths in the county has now surpassed 600, according to the Department of Public Health. The data, if correct, would mean that the county’s fatality rate is lower than originally thought.
Stanford University researchers who looked at California’s Santa Clara County, reached similar conclusions, finding that the COVID-19 outbreak may be more widespread but far less deadly than originally estimated.
The Stanford University researchers found that between 2.5 percent and 4.2 percent of county residents had antibodies to the coronavirus by early April, the Los Angeles Times reported on Friday, adding:
Though the county had reported roughly 1,000 cases in early April, the Stanford researchers estimate the actual number was between 48,000 and 81,000, or 50 to 85 times greater.
Earlier this month, Economist magazine had already cited another study that found the new novel coronavirus had spread faster but was far less deadly than official data implied.
The coronavirus mortality rate could be as low as 0.1 percent, “similar to that of flu,” the researchers cited by the Economist found, noting that the faster the disease spreads and hits its peak, the fewer people will die.
If these numbers hold true, that would mean this virus is far less deadly than we’ve been told, and other researchers are starting to agree.