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Asked by anon-250503 to Kate on 24 Mar 2020.
Question: how many people do you think will die from the coronavirus
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Kate Mitchell answered on 24 Mar 2020:
I’m not working on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) myself. (There are other coronaviruses, which cause different diseases). Nobody knows how many people will die. Scientists in the UK have estimated that about 1% (1 in 100) of those who get infected will die, but not everyone will get infected with the coronavirus. If people follow the instructions from the government and the NHS, this will reduce the number of people who get the virus, and reduce the number of people who die. The latest information about the coronavirus and how you should behave is here https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/. You should follow these instructions but please don’t panic.
Comments
Robert commented on :
It is important to understand that the figures we are being told are the number of people who have died WITH the coronavirus, but not necessarily BECAUSE of it. Many of these people will unfortunately have died whether or not they contracted coronavirus. This important thing is that we follow the medical advice being given to us, this should slow down the number of people being infected, given scientists more time to understand the virus and to find a vaccine and/ or effective treatment. In terms of how many people will die from this, it is impossible to tell right now.Stay safe.
Sophie commented on :
I would just like to add here that we are going to see the numbers increase for a little while yet, but we can help them peak sooner and start coming down by staying home as much as possible and not visiting friends and family even though you might really really want to. By staying home you will be protecting others, and of course helping all our doctors and nurses and so on to help save those who are in fighting the disease.
Mod Em commented on :
IMPORTANT: This question and its answers are about coronavirus (COVID-19). The information on this page might be out of date or wrong.
For up-to-date health information and advice, please go to the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/