That coronavirus death rate, which is lower than earlier estimates , takes into account potentially milder cases that often go undiagnosed -- but it's still far higher than the 0.1% of people who are killed by the flu. When undetected infections aren't taken into account, the Lancet study found that the coronavirus death rate was 1.38%, which is more consistent with earlier reports. For age groups younger than 40, the death rate was never higher than 0.16%, according to the study. Among those who succumbed to the virus, death came about 18 days after people started showing symptoms. In an article accompanying the research, Shigui Ruan, a professor of mathematics at the University of Miami, emphasized that estimating the coronavirus death rate "in real time during its epidemic is very challenging."

Source: CNN March 30, 2020 22:59 UTC