Numbers Can Ease Fear – COVID 19 By The Numbers

HealthStatus was started as a health information site by technology professionals who were in the business to write and understand mathematical data and how it relates to your health.  That is why there are so many health calculators on our site that are updated yearly by mortality numbers and health numbers that can provide you with information about your health and habits and how they can affect your mortality.

While the world is dealing with COVID 19 it is important to take out the emotion and fear and look at hard numbers to get a realistic outlook.  As of March 30, 2020, WHO, CDC, ECDC and NHC are reporting 35,114 deaths from COVID 19 worldwide, and under 1 million confirmed cases of the disease.

The most recent pandemic, H1N1 (swine flu) was first detected in April 2009 in a 10-year-old girl in California. It was declared a global pandemic in June 2009 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and was finally over in August 2010.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that swine flu infected nearly 61 million people in the United States and caused 12,469 deaths. Worldwide, up to 575,400 people died from pandemic swine flu.

Every year we have influenza or “flu season”.  A recent study estimated an average of 389,000 (uncertainty range 294 000-518 000) respiratory deaths were associated with influenza globally each year during the study period, corresponding to ~ 2% of all annual respiratory deaths. Of these, 67% were among people 65 years and older. Let’s look at some general mortality rates, and since our readers skew to the US, we will use those numbers for our baseline.

The mortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths in a particular population for a given amount of time.  Those numbers are then used and analyzed to determine individual risk evaluations and provide governments with necessary information on the health of their nation’s population and the world.  Trends and diseases can be tracked and mapped.

Roughly 150,000 people die each day across the globe, about two thirds—100,000 per day—die of age-related causes.

There are health risks in almost everything that you do.  The number of miles you drive in a year can increase your likelihood of injury.  The more you drive the more likely you are to be in an automobile accident.  A health risk assessment will ask how many miles you drive and in what type of vehicle.  Both of these questions have associated risk numbers.  It is actually safer to fly on an airplane than drive in a car if you look at the statistics.

For 2016 specifically, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data shows 37,461 people were killed in 34,436 motor vehicle crashes, an average of 102 per day.

According to the CDC : Leading Causes of Death Numbers For 2017 for the US Population

• Heart Disease 647,457 deaths in 2017 – 1,774/day
• Cancer 599,108 – 1, 532/day
• Accidents (unintentional injuries) 169,936 – 466/day
• Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases 160,201 – 438/day
• Stroke 146,383 – 401/day
• Alzheimer’s Disease 121,404 – 333/day
• Diabetes 83,564 – 229/day
• Flu & Pneumonia 55,672 – 152/day

US Life expectancy is 78.6 years

Number of Deaths in the US for 2017 = 2,813,503  – 7,708/day

I think numbers can give clarity to many situations whether it is your health, your budget or your risk.  This is why insurers and life insurance companies want health information on those seeking policies to see what the risk is before insuring an individual and to accurately determine what the premium should be.

Reducing Risk

There are some things beyond our control when it comes to health risks:  your age, your genetic makeup and the viruses that you will come in contact with.

But there are also some things you can control:  your weight, getting proper exercise and activity, eating healthy, managing health conditions, good hydration and eliminating bad habits (smoking, excessive alcohol use or drug abuse).  If you focus on what you can control you will empower yourself to be the healthiest you can at the age you are at.

When it comes to viruses frequent hand washing and killing germs seem to be our first line of defense.

Panic does not help any situation particularly a crisis.  Looking at problems rationally and taking the best steps to reduce risk, staying level headed, understanding your unique health risks based on your lifestyle and being mindful of hygiene will go a long way to keeping you healthy.

HealthStatus has partnered with many companies since 1998 to provide them with the latest Health Risk Assessment data so that personal and unique information can be understood by employees and their families.