[user104658]

HOWEVER yes I think focus is taken off of age at times. I know there's a sort of moral outrage stance of "it doesn't matter!!" but... well... it does matter, especially when it comes to interpretting stats and what they mean. This is a graph (whole pandemic) of deaths per 100k population by age group. What it shows is really quite stark.




Basically based on this data... infected demographic is going to play an absolutely MASSIVE role in case fatality rate. Even if there were NO vaccines, NO herd immunity from previous infection, NO "milder strain" ... full on OG Covid running rampant...

If the vast majority of infections are in the under-60's then death rates are going to look massively reduced compared to the first wave and winter 2020/2021 when it was sweeping through care home settings.

If the infected demographic was mainly under 40's it'd look like a mild illness with a few random severe reactions (as with any illness).

If the infected demographic was mainly under 25 it would never even have registered on anyone's radar.

Or in other words

If the rumours are true and Covid is currently sweeping through younger demographics - schools, universities, various social scenes - then the death stats are going to be flat as a pancake and the data means nothing in terms of anything else.