[Gritty]

I'm a bit thick.

Is your chart saying 75.7% of those who have gotten sick are still in the hospital?

How many are still on respirators, or is that figure available?

If that many are still in the hospital, and SARS gets out among the general population with a high contagion rate, it will quickly overwhelm health services - including available respirators. This means the death rate will skyrocket.

Am I wrong?

[shadeaud]

Saw some idiot family on the perkie today show this morning. The father actually went to the village where the virus is believed to have originated to pick up his newly adopted child. He and the child are now in quarantine in Austin. That's all we need is an outbreak in Texas.

[Petronski]

I might take issue with the word 'skyrocket,' but yes, there are several of us who are convinced that there will be a significant (order of magnitude) increase in the mortality rate once the healthcare facility capacity has been reached.

[per loin]

Is your chart saying 75.7% of those who have gotten sick are still in the hospital?

Yes, the chart says that. I've not got figures of how many are on respirators, but about 120 are in intensive care units. I suspect you are right about what happens if SARS spreads widely through the population.

[Petronski]

I should explain this further. I would think of 'skyrocket' as a current mortality rate of 4% and a new mortality rate of something like 90%. With SARS, just based on instinct alone, I think the real mortality rate will be in the teens or twenties.

Brutal, true, but not 'Captain Tripps.'