Dear Reader:

Continued, my note:  about 55% of Covid-19 deaths in Sweden from Jan 1-May 7 2020, would have died within that same time period if there was no pandemic. A significant percentage of the remaining 45% patients who died before May 7, 2020, would have died later this year and in the next year or two. Because the virus behind Covid-19 targets the older people, public officials in every country should have attended to the older population first, to protect them and the younger people who come in contact with the old. Nursing homes, where they exist, should have been attended to first, before establishing social distancing restrictions for the general population.

Because the virus greatly favors the older population, the death rate within different countries has a lot to do with the percentage of old people in different countries. Nursing homes have been a favorite place for the virus, further escalating the death rate among the old. In countries where people live longer (developed countries), such as Italy, France, Sweden, and other European countries, Covid-19 overall death rates are higher. On the other hand, in countries where people don’t live as long, the Covid-19 death rates are lower.

Another factor regarding developed countries is that food has been plentiful for decades and technology made physical activity an option, leading to widespread obesity. The virus behinds Covid-19 favors the older and the obese. For example, in France, of the current 93,631 closed cases, 30% died. The high number of deaths is due to old age and obesity.

Notice regarding the following article, Type 1 diabetes has nothing to do with obesity, but “Type 2 diabetes primarily occurs as a result of obesity and lack of exercise” (Wikipedia), BMI is Bodily Mass Index, used to measure obesity:

www. msn. com/ en-us/ news/ technology/ one in 10 covid-19 patients with diabetes die within a week study finds, today, reads: “the average age of all the patients in the study was 70.. patients 75 years and older were 14 times more likely to die than patients under 55”, “The research looked at more than 1,300 coronavirus patients in 53 hospitals in France between March 10 and March 31. Most – 89%- had Type 2 diabetes; 3% had Type 1 Diabetes.. Obese patients with diabetes were also more likely to die, researchers said. Obesity is becoming a major risk factor for bad outcomes both in people with and without diabetes, said Dr. Robert Eckel, the president of medicine and science at the American Diabetes Association, who was not involved in the study… BMI turned out to be independently associates with the primary outcome… The study suggests that special attention should be paid to seniors with long- term diabetes”.

Let’s look at Vietnam, currently only 328 cases and zero deaths. Of 279 closed cases, 100% recovered. www. msn. com/ en-us/ news/ world/ Vietnam how this country of 95 million kept its coronavirus death toll at zero, states today that the zero deaths is remarkable in Vietnam “considering Vietnam is a low-middle income country with a much less-advanced healthcare system than others in the region. It only has 8 doctors for every 10,000 people, a third of the ration is South Korea, according to the World Bank”.

“To skeptics, Vietnam’s official numbers may seem too good to be true. But Guy Thwaites, an infectious disease doctor who works in one of the main hospitals designated by the Vietnamese government to treat Covid-19 patients, said the numbers matched the reality on the ground. ‘I go to the wards every day, I know the cases, I know there has been no death,’ said Thwaites, who also heads the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Ho Chi Minh City…  So how has Vietnam seemingly bucked the global trend and largely escaped the scourge of the coronavirus? The answer, according to public health experts, lies in a combination of factors, from the government’s swift, early response to prevent its spread, to rigorous contact- tracing and quarantine and effective public communication.

“If according to public health experts, lies in a combination of factors, from the government’s swift, early response to prevent its spread, to rigorous contact-tracing and quarantining and effective public communication. Acting early: Vietnam started preparing for a coronavirus outbreak weeks before its first case was detected… By early January, temperature screening was already in place for passengers arriving from Wuhan at Hanoi’s international airport.. By mid-January, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam was ordering government agencies to take ‘drastic measures’ to prevent the disease from spreading into Vietnam, strengthening medical quarantine at border gates, airports and seaports. On Jan 23, Vietnam confirmed its first two coronavirus cases.. On February 1, Vietnam declared a national epidemic- with just six confirmed cases recorded across the country… On February 12, it locked down an entire rural community of 10,000 people north of Hanoi for 20 days over seven coronavirus cases… the speed of Vietnam’s response was the main reason behind its success..

From the start, the Vietnamese government has communicated clearly with the public about the outbreak… raising awareness of the outbreak through loudspeakers, street posters, the press and social media… Thwaites said Vietnam’s rich experience in dealing with infectious disease outbreaks, such as the SARS epidemic from 2002 to 2003 and the following avian influenza, had helped the government and the public to better prepare for Covid-19 pandemic. ‘The population is much more respectful of infectious diseases than many perhaps more affluent countries or countries that don’t see as much infectious disease- Europe, the UK and the US for example,’ he said.”

My note: One factor as to why there are zero Covid-19 deaths so far that was not mentioned in the article, is the age demographics in Vietnam. According to www. indexmundi. com/ Vietnam/ age structure (same website for all of the numbers that follow), 84.75% of the population is younger than 54, and 15.25% is 55 and older. (Current, total Covid deaths: zero).

China:  77.38% of the population is younger than 54, and  22.62% is 55 and older. (Current total Covid-19 deaths: 4,634,   3 per 1 million population).

Norway:  71.34% of the population is younger than 54, and 28.66% is 55 and older. (Current total Covid-19 deaths: 236,   44 per million population).

South Korea: 70.35% of the population is younger than 54, and 29.64% is 55 and older. (Current total Covid-19 deaths: 269,   5 per million population)

Italy: 65.03% of the population is younger than 54, and 34.98% is 55 and older. (Current total Covid-19 deaths: 33,340,  551 per million population).

* The preparedness of the health system in each country is a huge factor in regard to the Covid-19 death rate, but age is also a big factor: even though there is lesser health care available in Vietnam, there are fewer older people there (partly a result of a lesser health care system, I am guessing), and fewer obese people, and therefore, fewer people in Vietnam have been vulnerable to Covid-19 than in other countries. The government’s preparedness and response in Vietnam, as the article indicates, is also a huge factor in producing the current zero death number there. Also, in countries were nursing homes is a social practice, the death rates escalated.

anita

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