Coronavirus: The Spanish mortality rate is 15 times higher than in Germany By Kaos. Kaos. Estado Español, Spanish State
Shared with thanks. Translation TheFreeOnlineOn Sunday, March 22, the official number of those affected by coronavirus in Germany (22213) was similar to that of the Spanish State (28603). However, the death toll is much lower in the Germanic country (93 deaths there for 1,756 here) despite almost doubling the Spanish population. The death rate is therefore 15 times lower in Germany: 0.4% by 6.13%. How do you explain that abysmal difference?
In this regard, Fernando Simón, director of the Center for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies in the Spanish State, said publicly that he could not explain it.
“We do not know,” he replied Friday in his daily appearance before the media in response to the question of how this abysmal difference in mortality between the two States was possible, which, as of March 22, is 19 times higher in the case of the Spanish State, whose population is 47 million compared to 83 in Germany.
Cold statistical data and analysis hide, as we know, a socially dramatic reality. In the Spanish State, the mortality caused by the coronavirus is not only, or even mainly, due to its lethality: it is mainly of public health, a macabre business at the cost of the health and life of the majority.
However, to know the health situation of both countries, it is worth taking a look at the health spending of each one: Germany in 2018 allocated 9.48% of its GDP to health spending, that is, 321,134 million, representing 21.36 % of total public spending. On the other hand, the Spanish State only dedicated 6.27% of its GDP, that is, 75.434 million, 15.14% of total public spending.
Therefore, while Germany spends 3,878 euros per inhabitant in health, the Spanish State only invests 1,616 euros:
if 9.48% of GDP were invested in health here as in Germany, health spending would have risen 38,000 euros more (more than the half that at present) going from 1600 euros to over 2400 per inhabitant and year.
This alone (apart from other considerations such as the
ongoing privatization process, the unpredictability of those responsible, the confinement of the population, the lack of basic protection material …) can perfectly explain why the German health system has
ten times more ventilators and beds dedicated to intensive care and why 160,000 weekly tests have been carried out in the Germanic State, decisive factors in explaining the difference in mortality between the two countries.
As we said in light of the previous data, the relationship between the number of people affected and the number of deaths in Germany is enormously low compared to Italy and the Spanish State. For now, only South Korea and Japan support the comparison. Differences in health structure, as well as in the early detection strategy, would be the main cause.
In this sense, several sources consider four factors to be decisive in explaining what happens in Germany: the number of intensive care units (ICUs), the number of beds allocated to these units for critically ill patients, the number of vents, the devices that facilitate artificial respiration , and the number of tests for the detection of Covid-19, which allow early detection and rapid medical intervention.
Thus, according to the Ministry of Health, in the Spanish State there are about 4,400 ICUs and about 5,500 beds in intensive care services, 4,627 of which are part of the public network. The same data indicates that there are about 2,500 respirators. The average occupation of an ICU varies, according to the source, between 65% and 80% and it is estimated that between 5% and 10% of patients will require respiratory support. All this for a population that borders 47 million people.
In the case of Germany, on the other hand, with a population of 82 million people, the number of respirators is around 25,000 and in the coming weeks they plan to add 10,000 more. On the other hand, the German system has 28,000 beds dedicated to intensive care, a figure that, according to the Reuters agency, will soon be expanded to 50,000. According to these data, Germany almost multiplies the availability of Spain by 10.
In the Spanish case, if the average occupation of the ICUs is between 65% and 80%, the massive arrival of cases that require intensive care -as it is already happening- is very easy to end up saturating the system or even collapsing it. Especially if it is taken into account that Covid-19 patients need more days of stay than other pathologies.
The average is between 15 and 20 days for the Covid-19 and about 5 days for other pathologies. To this must be added the difficulty of the Spanish system to acquire new respirators in an international market saturated by the demand of other countries (and without the intention of the political leaders to take the necessary measures to produce them here).
As for the number of tests, Germany is doing
160,000 per week, has assured the Financial Times Lothar Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute, center where the data is centralized.
In contrast to the number of Spanish tests, barely exceed 30,000 in total since the pandemic began(South Korea came to make about 15,000 daily). The tests detect cases of Covid-19 even in patients who suffer few or no symptoms and are essential in the spread of the coronavirus. They also indicate that Germany is likely to have fewer undetected cases than countries where the test is less frequent,
or virtually non-existent as in Spain, and that more than 80% of people infected with coronavirus are under the age of 60.
Cold statistical data and analysis hide, as we know, a socially dramatic reality. In the Spanish State, the mortality caused by the coronavirus is not only, or even mainly, due to its lethality: it is mainly due to the lack of sufficient public investment, to the cuts of these years (to, among other things, pay the debt and rescue the banks) and the privatization of public health, a macabre business at the cost of the health and life of the majority.By Kaos. Kaos. Estado Español, Spanish State
Shared with thanks. Translation TheFreeOnline.
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original en Castellano
A debateBloque1SDCiencia y tecnología
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