There is a lot of data to suggest that the Coronavirus pandemic is being not recorded as good as we might hope.
Statistics suggest that 1 in 10 Coronavirus deaths are taking place outside hospitals, meaning they are often not included in official figures. Around 2,000 care homes are believed to have had Coronavirus outbreaks since figures started, a significant amount; a significant amount of deaths potentially not recorded. A study looking at European countries including the UK suggested that up to half of all recent care home deaths could be related to the Coronavirus.
But not all improperly recorded figures are so bleak, scientists believe that up to 50% of those infected display no symptoms at all, despite still spreading the illness. This is both relieving and scary. Relieving because it means less people are getting physically ill, but scary because the potential for spread is almost unlimited if this is true. If more people have had the virus than figures show, it also means the overall death rate % is a lot less. Some studies suggest a death rate as low as 0.4%.
Many scientists have addressed the difficulty of correctly calculating figures whilst the pandemic is ongoing, and ever changing. But maybe, one day when this is all over we can properly crunch the numbers and have a clearer picture of what happened and learn from our mistakes. Yet, if up to half of all cases go undetected, this may not be possible.
