The right numberPublic-health officials, epidemiologists, amateur observers and others have watched as the pandemic has unfolded, looking for how to measure the virus’s deadliness.
Tallying deaths as a percentage of the greater population sheds light on the scope of the pandemic. Excess mortality compares fatalities to what the death rate is expected to be.
But neither method offers insight into whether the virus is becoming more or less deadly for an individual with a severe case.Even looking at deaths per the number of confirmed cases can be misleading as the result is largely a function of testing, experts say.