Doha: Two small countries have the lowest fatality rates among other nations that are experiencing major coronavirus outbreaks, reported Bloomberg. The death toll in Qatar and Singapore is less than 0.1 percent of reported cases.
In Singapore, the total cases have escalated to one of the highest in Asia as it struggles with the epidemic in foreign-worker dormitories. Here, a 102-year-old woman made progress from the virus infection by recovering and was discharged from hospital last weekend. Among economies with major outbreaks, Qatar’s case-fatality ratio is the lowest at 0.07% — 12 deaths out of more than 16,000 cases. Singapore’s ratio is 0.093% of more than 19,000 infections. Both countries have also kept mortality from the virus low as a proportion to their populations: less than 0.5 per 100,000 people. To date, Qatar has reported 12 coronavirus-related deaths amid more than 17,000 cases.
While Singapore has an aging population and a higher median age than Qatar, most of the cases are among low-wage foreign workers, who are typically young and undergo health checks before they are allowed into the country for work purposes
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“The two nations are also among some of the wealthiest in the world, which means they can better afford the test kits and hospital beds they need,” Bloomberg said in its report.
According to health experts, patient demographics and the ability of the health-care system to cope play a major role in keeping the survival rate high in this pandemic. While some countries with small outbreaks like Vietnam have not suffered a single death, those dealing with major spread, with as more than 10,000 cases see their health care infrastructure and workers under a lot of pressure.
Low case fatality ratios boil down to three things: testing, age of the population, and intensive care unit capacity, said Raina MacIntyre, professor of global biosecurity at the University of New South Wales. “Countries that test more and detect more mild cases will have an apparently lower case fatality rate,” she said. Older populations and countries that exceed their intensive care unit and ventilator capacity will also have higher death rates, she said.
Many countries like Belarus and North Korea are also being criticized for allegedly reporting a smaller number of cases than actually present and hiding its correct report.
Meanwhile, Qatar Airways has said it will let go of many of its staff and crew members as widespread travel bans caused by the coronavirus pandemic have largely grounded the global aviation business. The Doha-based carrier gave no specific figures, but a memo emailed from its CEO that was leaked online on Wednesday said the number of employees laid off would be “substantial” and include members of its cabin crew.
