COVID-19

Coronavirus Deaths by Country

This chart showing death rates from COVID-19 can be used to compare the spread of Coronavirus in different countries

Since first appearing in China at the end of 2019, Coronavirus Disease has spread to countries around the world, to become a global pandemic. Comparing confirmed numbers of cases between countries is problematic as different countries have different criteria for testing suspected cases. Death rates can be compared between countries, and provide an indicator of the spread of the disease and its impact on a country’s healthcare system. There is a substantial time-lag between infections and deaths, so the numbers of deaths provide a picture of the prevalence of the disease several weeks previously.

Assigning the date when the number of deaths in a country reach a certain threshold as day ‘0’ allows the graphs for each country to be aligned. The curves for different countries can then be compared, and inferences can be made about the prevalence of the disease in different countries and the effectiveness of social distancing measures.

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References

1. ECDC, ‘Download Today’s Data on the Geographic Distribution of COVID-19 Cases Worldwide’ (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 2020) https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/download-todays-data-geographic-distribution-covid-19-cases-worldwide [↩]