
Coronavirus death rate falling in hospitals - mrfusion
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-53192532
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anigbrowl
Might be worth adding 'in England' to the title, as BBC does a lot of world
reporting and the headline might be mistaken for a general rather than a local
trend.

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salmon30salmon
Death rates are falling all over the globe. Italy and the United States have
reported similar. Italian doctors claim the virus is weaker, Americans are
claiming it is due to younger patients.

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gnusty_gnurc
I imagine it's likely that the most vulnerable parts of the population that
were easily accessible (easily accessible isn't even saying much, since let's
face it - it seems not many countries have been able to prevent the virus from
reaching nursing homes) by the virus have died.

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salmon30salmon
That is a main reason in my mind. The virus burned through the easy to infect
really quickly. There is also something to be said for the evolutionary
benefits of being less deadly, as a virus.

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gnusty_gnurc
I'm interested in the excess mortality that ends up accumulating at the end of
the year, would be interesting to see if a large chunk of the pandemic ended
up being like the reaper coming a few months early for the most elderly and
vulnerable.

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beamatronic
Reading the posts from NYC doctors at the peak. I think automatic intubation
based solely on pulse ox has stopped. They found patients indicating pulse ox
in the 60’s who were not in distress. Where as before they would go straight
to ventilator based on that reading.

Also the studies about Vitamin D. Doesn’t hurt to increase the intake,
especially for those chronically low. Many of those folks are in high risk
groups.

Less concern about surfaces and more focus on avoiding stale air.

So many learnings came from the field.

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zaroth
This is a good article in that it acknowledges the several possible causes of
a lower daily death rate; patient demographics, standard of care, mutation of
the virus to a more moderate form, or something else entirely.

At this point there’s a definite effect but the cause(s) are only speculative.

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ed25519FUUU
I'm sure policy changes are also helping, for example no longer forcing
COVID-19 patients into nursing homes.

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crb002
My guess is better management of cytokine explosion with steroids to prevent
viral pneumonia.

