With the development of the epidemic, the mortality rate of COVID-19 has always been a matter of great concern to everyone. According to the World Health Organization，as of 10 a.m. Central European Time on April 7th (5 p.m. Beijing time), the global number of diagnoses reached 1,279,722, with 72,614 deaths, of which 686,338 were diagnosed in the Europe and 52,809 died, with a high case fatality rate in Europe. 7.7%.
Many European countries, including Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, and France, have case fatality rates close to or exceed 10%. It is also the Novel Coronavirus, why the fatality rate in Europe is so different from that in China?

In response to the phenomenon that the death rate of patients with COVID-19 in some countries exceeded that of Wuhan, China, Gao Li, the World Health Organization representative in China responded at a press conference on the 7th. At the beginning of the outbreak, the mortality rate was higher. This is a very common phenomenon when a new infectious disease occurs. The mortality rate of a new infectious disease is relatively high when it first appears, and will subsequently decline.

According to Gao Li, the reason that the current case fatality rate in foreign countries is higher than that in China is mainly related to the following three aspects:

lAt the beginning of the outbreak, the case fatality rate is high, which is very common when new infectious diseases appear, and the health system is already overwhelmed when the number of cases surges;

lThere will also be changes in the case management policy globally, for example, the initial mild illness may not be counted as a case;

lChina's policy attaches great importance to testing, and we will do more and more extensive testing in the future, which will make the total number of cases more accurate and the corresponding mortality rate will decrease.

In response to the current situation of overloaded operation of medical institutions in various countries, Gao Li stated that this is an important issue facing each country. For those countries that are still in the early stage of the epidemic, they should take the opportunity to make full preparations, including preparing a sufficient number of Ventilator and medical staff.

According to the German Federal Disease Control Agency Robert Koch Institute's data as of April 8th, Germany added 4003 new cases of novel coronavirus, a total of 103228 cases. There were 254 new deaths and 1861 deaths. Compared with other European countries, Germany's case fatality rate can be said to be very low, why is the gap so large?

（一）Wide detection range, clear diagnosis target, large base

The main reasons for the low mortality rate of the epidemic in Germany is the wide detection range, the definite diagnosis target, and the large base. Effective detection can enable infected people to be treated in time, reduce mortality, and help the government plan corresponding anti-epidemic measures. Germany’s outstanding testing capabilities stem from its widely distributed and efficient laboratory system, which allows licensed laboratories to perform virus testing.

German media said that in Germany, as long as the patient has symptoms such as dry cough, fever, and difficulty in breathing, and has recently been to a high-risk area such as Italy or has been in contact with an infected person, if the doctors judge testing is necessary, it will be done. Thanks to large-scale testing, the German epidemic was discovered earlier and has an advantage in time.

（二）The infected person is relatively young

Judging from the current infection data, 70% of the diagnosed patients in Germany are between 20-50 years old, and the average patient is 48 years old. The main symptoms of most patients are cough and fever, or asymptomatic. In Italy, which has the highest mortality rate, the average age of diagnosed patients is as high as 66 years, and more than 58% of patients are elderly people over 60 years old.

In the early stage of the outbreak, the local infected people in Germany were mainly younger people. Many of them were infected after skiing in neighboring countries or participating in local carnivals. The infection chain is relatively clear.

（三）Perfect medical security system

In the face of increasing infections, enough medical beds are the basis of treatment. Having enough sick beds and giving all critical patients the best treatment services is the key to reducing the mortality.

There is a huge difference between Italy and Germany in terms of the ratio of the population to the number of critically ill beds: Italy has a population of about 60 million. At the beginning of the outbreak, there were about 5,000 beds; Germany has a population of about 80 million and there are about 28,000 beds. At present, Germany's data has increased to 40,000, of which about 15,000 to 20,000 are still in standby.

According to data from the German Ministry of Health, Germany has more than 25,000 beds equipped with ventilators, which is equivalent to 90% of the total intensive care beds. For every 100,000 inhabitants, there are more than 30 ventilators. The proportion in Germany is also much higher than 12.5 in Italy and 7.1 in the Netherlands.

In addition, some experts believe that the German epidemic situation is still on the rise, while Italy is close to the "turning point", which may be the reason for the difference in mortality between the two countries.

Source: The Paper, Life Times, The Beijing News