so let me get this right, if 1) one has bad enough symptoms to go to the hospital to get tested, 2) tests positive for covid and does not have normal flu, bronchitis, pneumonia, and 3) is treated in a timely manner in the bests ways we know how then that hohort has a 5% chance of dying.
Without knowing how many asymptomatic cases there are (the denominator) and 1, 2, and 3 constraints then a number like 5% is at best meaningless and at worst dishonest.
It’s neither meaningless nor dishonest. It is what it is.
And you can use it to make some rough comparisons to the flu, and realize this thing is worse than the flu.
It’s also interesting that the CFR rate keeps climbing over time. You’d think with more testing, that you would find more cases with fewer symptoms and the CFR would go down. But deaths are a lagging indicator on this.
The deaths today probably correlate to cases a week or two ago, which would drive the rate even higher.
It’s not a perfect number, but it’s far from meaningless.
And Sweden’s high rate, probably means they aren’t testing anybody but the sickest. It’s either that or they are terrible at caring for COVID patients.