Death rate related to coronavirus would be much higher than announced… This is what the REVA network (European Research Network on Artificial Ventilation) says in a document unveiled by our peers at Le Monde a few days ago. A death rate in intensive care units in the country concerning novel Covid-19 patients that would be 30 to 40% instead of the 10% rate as announced by Health director general Jérôme Salomon this past April 17 during his press brief.
“We’ve never seen such a death rate. With swine flu, even with the worst cases, we were at 25%” ICU doctor at the Pitié Salpêtrière and REVA network coordinator Matthieu Schmidt said. Surprisingly high rates that could be explained by the seriousness of the disease and its shape-shifting character: “We’re not speaking of pneumonia or a simple respiratory organs failure, but a serious disease that also has a large inflammatory, vascular part that can also affect kidneys” Matthieu Schmidt adds.
So, why are the numbers shared by Jérôme Salomon 3 to 4 times below? Because these are not forecast, but an assessment at a given moment. Numbers are based on epidemiologic reports from Santé Public France released this past April 16 and excluding data already known. These news came up true at that moment, as the document shared by Le Monde proves it: out of 2,806 patients in the 144 intensive care units in France between March 16 and April 12, sole 291 Covid-19 patient died, that is to say a 10.37% death rate.
A difference of number that does not totally show the reality of intensive care units, but that the entourage of the health director acknowledges: “The Health director general based his statements on a photograph of data from Santé Publique France, and on the number of people who died among patients checked in intensive care units, naming a death rate at “a given moment” on the level of the sample given by Santé Publique France” they explained to CheckNews, the committee checking Libération news. They added: “This is not news on the death rate at the end of a stay in intensive care for a patient”.
Anyway, we will only know the real death rate once the crisis over, after analyzing all data over the hospitalization of patients. A number that could be close to what REVA networks values.
