If they only covid19 test people sick enough to be hospitalized, and if most of the deaths are over 70, shouldn't there be a comparison in the death rates to those patients testing negative?

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Derek Lomas

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What percent of 70+ year olds that enter a hospital for cold/flu symptoms end up dying? Without knowing that as baseline, it is hard to meaningfully evaluate the covid19 death rate, especially considering that only the seriously ill are tested.

In this study, about 9% of non-elective geriatric patients admitted to a hospital die. https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article/34/5/467/40349

In this study, it was closer to 15%. http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1807-59322009000700002&...