German Virologist: Covid-19 Is Less Deadly Than We Thought

5th May 2020

At UnHerd, we've spoken to experts at both ends of the range of estimates, from Neil Ferguson (who believes the IFR to be just under 1%, perhaps 0.8-0.9%) to Johan Giesecke who maintains that it is nearer 0.1%.

This may sound like splitting hairs - they are both under one percent after all – but in reality the difference between these estimates changes everything. At the lower end, a much more laissez-faire policy becomes possible, and at 30,000 deaths it starts to look like the UK has already been through the worst of it; at the higher end, a policy of continued ultra-caution is necessary because a more relaxed approach could mean hundreds of thousands of additional deaths.

That’s why the study conducted by Professor Hendrik Streeck of the University of Bonn is so significant: a fully representative sample population within Germany was tested and examined in great detail to determine what percentage had already been infected with Covid-19.

Read the full accompanying article here:

https://unherd.com/thepost/german-virologist-finds-covid-fatality-rate-of-0-24-0-36/