Why Germany Has a Low Covid-19 Death Rate

Here’s what experts speculate

Why Is Germany’s Coronavirus Death Rate So Low?

Even though Germany has reported 61,164 confirmed cases of the coronavirus as of Sunday, just 490 of those people have died, putting the fatality rate at 0.8%. That’s significantly lower than the 11% fatality rate in Italy and the 8.4% rate in Spain.

Public health experts and journalists alike are curious by the difference. The pandemic is quickly evolving, and the rate of deaths could change. Germany may just be a few weeks behind, for example. But for now, there are some theories, including: widespread testing (including people with mild symptoms), strict protections of the elderly (the median age of people infected in Italy is 63 and in Germany it’s 46), an especially high number of critical care beds, and more.

Here are two stories exploring the issue:

This is why Germany's coronavirus death rate seems so low

Opinion | Germany Has Relatively Few Deaths From Coronavirus. Why?