Health officials in China have published the first details of more than 70,000 cases of Covid-19, in the biggest study since the outbreak began, reports BBC News. Data from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC) found that more than 80% of the cases have been mild with the sick and elderly most at risk. The research also points to the high risk for medical staff.
The findings put the overall death rate of the Covid-19 virus at 2.3%. In Hubei, the worst affected province, the death rate is 2.9% compared with only 0.4% in the rest of the country.
The study looked at all 72,314 cases of Covid-19 diagnosed across China as of 11 February, including confirmed, suspected, and asymptomatic cases. While the results largely confirm previous descriptions of the virus and patterns of infection, the study includes a detailed breakdown of the 44,672 confirmed cases across all of China.
The report says some of the conclusions reached include the following: some 80.9% of infections are classified as mild, 13.8% as severe and only 4.7% as critical; the highest fatality rate is for people aged 80 and older, at 14.8%; for children up to 9, there have been no fatalities and up to the age of 39, the death rate remains low at 0.2%; for the next age groups, the fatality rates increase gradually: or people in their 40s it is 0.4%, in their 50s it is 1.3%, in their 60s it is 3.6% and their 70s it is 8%; looking at the sex ratio, men are more likely to die (2.8%) than women (1.7%); and identifying which existing illnesses put patients at risk, the study finds cardiovascular disease at number one, followed by diabetes, chronic respiratory disease and hypertension.
The report says pointing out the risk for medical staff, the paper says that a total of 3,019 health workers have been infected, 1,716 of which were confirmed cases and five had died by 11 February, which was the last day of data included in the research.
On 13 February, China broadened its definition of how to diagnose people, including "clinically diagnosed cases" which previously were counted separate from "confirmed cases".
The report says the study suggests that the downward trend in the overall epidemic curve could mean that "isolation of whole cities, broadcast of critical information (promoting hand washing, mask wearing, and care seeking) with high frequency through multiple channels, and mobilisation of a multi-sector rapid response teams is helping to curb the epidemic".
[link url="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51540981"]Full BBC News report[/link]
[link url="http://weekly.chinacdc.cn/en/article/id/e53946e2-c6c4-41e9-9a9b-fea8db1a8f51"]Chinese Journal of Epidemiology abstract[/link]