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Is the coronavirus becoming ‘less deadly’?
In a rapidly changing situation for measuring, monitoring and intervention, can we ever compare the rate of the viral infection now with how it was in March? Ask ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and JOEL HELLEWELL
While it might be reassuring to believe that the coronavirus is becoming less deadly, any apparent decline in the number of infected dying is due to a change record keeping, not the death rate

OVER the course of the Covid-19 outbreak in Britain many people have been following the charts plotting confirmed cases and deaths over time. We look to these graphs to get a sense of what the outbreak is doing and how well we have it under control.

One thing some people have begun to question is an apparent discrepancy between the numbers of confirmed cases and the numbers of deaths that accompany them.

For example, between March 1 and the April 1 this year, the government Covid-19 dashboard reports that in Britain there were 139,065 confirmed cases and 24,046 deaths. In comparison, between the September 1 and October 1, there have been 134,538 confirmed cases but only 711 deaths.

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