Experts say the coronavirus mortality rate likely will drop as more people get tested.
Their comments came after World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus estimated the global mortality rate of the virus to be 3.4% -- much higher than the seasonal flu.
"I think it's lower because we are missing mild cases," said Jennifer Nuzzo, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security is quoted by The Hill. "We should be preparing for (the worst) cases, it's true, but also going out to see what the real number is.”
Her remarks, and those of other experts, appear to back up comments by President Donald Trump about the WHO’s mortality figures regarding the coronavirus.
"I think the 3.4% is a false number," Trump said of the death rate. "Now, this is just my hunch, but I had lot of conversations with a lot of people that do this – because a lot of people will have this, and it is very mild. They will get better very rapidly. They don't even call a doctor."
Experts say the given mortality rate may be skewed because the virus appears to be hitting certain populations, including the elderly, much harder than others, The Hill noted.
Rebecca Katz, director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University, maintained there's still a lot of information that experts don't know.
"(People) want to know just how deadly is it. The challenge is, we don’t totally know," Katz said.
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