A health expert estimated that Hong Kong’s actual Covid mortality rate should be 0.18 percent -- not much higher than the 0.1 percent for seasonal influenza. Speaking on a radio program on Monday, Ivan Hung Fan-ngai, co-convenor of the government’s vaccine panel, said the mortality rate of 0.63 percent estimated by authorities should be an exaggeration. He said the SAR government’s official case count should not be used to calculate the mortality rate, as many people did not report their cases. Instead, he found the University of Hong Kong's estimation to be more relevant -- that 4 million people were believed to have contracted the coronavirus. Hung said if the figure 4 million is used as the base, the mortality rate of Covid will drop to around 0.18 percent -- as compared to the rate of 0.1 percent for seasonal influenza.

Source: The Standard March 28, 2022 21:08 UTC