Countries across the world currently report widely different mortality experiences with Covid-19. This results in apparently very different disease impacts being reported in different countries.
For example due to differences in data collection and reporting strategies the percentage of people who contracted the disease and died from it ranges from 16.3% of observed cases in Belgium to 12% in Spain, to 6.5% in Ireland, 6.2% in Switzerland and 6% in the United States.
Given that it is the same disease in all countries and all populations are equally susceptible to the virus the sheer range of mortality rates reported clearly underscores the need for caution when making international comparisons.