Finally got some more useful info than what has been posted on various news sites. The important info is %tests shows infection and % infections resulting in death.. instead of highlighting deaths only.
From CNN – https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-outbreak-03-23-20-intl-hnk/index.html
313,000 tests completed, more than 41,000 tests positive.
That means current infection rate within population is about 13%. Estimate using S. Koreas numbers on death rates (so far theirs is the best survey – large sample) 0.8% death rate on positive tests.
For reference, this years flu(H1N1) caused about 19,000 deaths and the previous flu(H3N1) season caused around 80,000 deaths.
NOTE: The 314,376 number is probably an upper bound. Most tests were performed on people who felt ill (the US has been even more selective with their samples – often only the very ill)
I tend to agree with the current California Governor Gavin Newsom that the tests should be less targeted to just the very ill and should be more general to get a handle on the number of people ill out of the population as well as percentage that are largely asymptomatic vs more severe or critical.
