And don't forget that countries have different ways to count COVID deaths. In the UK it's everyone who dies of any cause within 28 days of a positive test. Some other countries only consider COVID deaths if the patients had pneumonia.
And depending on the testing (availability, sensitivity) the death counts could be underestimated as well.
It will be an interesting challenge to get compatible statistics from different countries.
> In the UK it's everyone who dies of any cause within 28 days of a positive test
But not everyone who has 'coronavirus' on the death certificate... Just to be clear here, if excess death rates are to be believed, it's likely that the UK is under reporting deaths.
PS: The "any cause" thing is also untrue, as far as I can see. Apparently, 88% of COVID patients who die do so within 28 days, so you can sort of guess at the undercounting going on here.
I would also check if there is a correlation with mask usage, like you grab pictures from public places and count the mask wearing percentage, you could maybe(I could be wrong) the level of solidarity/cooperation (or insert your preferred term here ) and see if this variable correlates at all.
Absolutely, I think that would help policymakers get a better grasp of what measures help best in reducing the scope of these outbreaks.
It is well understood that age, hypertension (stress?) and obesity are major driving factors of covid-19 hospitalizations [0].
I would love to see governments spending as much money/resources on stimulating a healthy lifestyle as the do on vaccines and lockdowns.
And depending on the testing (availability, sensitivity) the death counts could be underestimated as well.
It will be an interesting challenge to get compatible statistics from different countries.