Posted on 06/01/2020 7:51:21 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Back in April, the captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, Brett Crozier, was relieved of command after sounding the alarm about an outbreak of COVID-19 aboard his ship. The news made national headlines and catalyzed a spirited debate.
Since then, news of the Theodore Roosevelt has largely faded, with hardly anyone acknowledging the most important part about the COVID-19 outbreak: More than 1,100 sailors were infected, and only one died.
From the time the outbreak began and up until early May, the Navy offered daily updates regarding the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Theodore Roosevelt. Once the Navy had completed testing of all sailors onboard, however, the daily updates were concluded. The Navy explained that going forward, it would only report “significant changes” on the ship.
The Theodore Roosevelt has now returned to sea, and the final data offered by the Navy remains at 1,102 cases, with only one reported death. Presumably, additional deaths aboard the ship would qualify as a “significant change,” and thus we can assume that, while still tragic, only one person, 41-year-old Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr., died of the virus. The Navy has not disclosed whether Thacker suffered from any underlying health conditions.
Doing some simple math, COVID-19 aboard the Theodore Roosevelt had a death rate of 0.09 percent, while the estimated death rate for the seasonal flu is 0.1 percent.
This data point offers incredibly useful insight into how COVID-19 affects a young and healthy population. Most enlisted sailors are under 30 years old.
A similarly low death rate has been seen on France’s Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, where more than 1,000 sailors contracted the virus but zero died. These death rates are even lower than estimates in a new CDC report, which estimates the death rate for people under 50 years old at only 0.05 percent.
We have long known that the Wuhan virus primarily affects elderly people, particularly those with underlying health conditions. For example, 81 percent of coronavirus deaths in Minnesota have occurred in nursing homes or assisted-care facilities. In Denmark, the median age of death is about 82 years old.
General population-based data suggests that young populations tend to fare well, with only 14 people between 20 and 29 years old dying from COVID-19 in Italy, an early hotspot. The death rate for those who are not only relatively young, but also healthy and physically fit, might be far lower than previously imagined.
If the data from the Theodore Roosevelt and other military vessels is correct, it must be brought to light and discussed. Public health policy might benefit from a shift toward strongly shielding the vulnerable in our population but allowing the economy to open for those who are relatively young and healthy.
Apple to Oranges. Theodore Roosevelt represents healthy active navy personnel. While the flu rate quoted is inclusive of all ages, including the very old.
People who are old enough to retire should consider staying at home and avoiding the work place.
People who are too young to retire should consider going to work.
People who have a fever or otherwise feel sick, should stay at home.
Quarantining the sick makes sense.
Quarantining the healthy is tyranny.
All of this has been obvious since mid-April. At least.
This math and rational is just as legitimate as the math and doom and gloom you pearl clutchers have been peddling the past few months. You guys got everything wrong, and should no longer be listened to.
With a military ship and a military crew, I would actually be more interested in how debilitating the virus was. It was obviously highly contagious, but did it put crew out of action or otherwise limit the ship’s operations?
dang... you go TN
“You guys got everything wrong, and should no longer be listened to.”
Who here were claiming that young people get sick/die at the same rate as older people?
We have to find a way to deal with this on a more focused basis...this concept of shutting everything down is asinine for something that is obviously not deadly to certain age groups.
But that is the way government works-one size fits all.
Of the cases in my county, 18% were teens and 20s year olds. How many of those young people had their reproductive parts damaged or killed by the virus?
Nearly half our total cases have occurred in this one month of opening up.
What happened to their T levels and swimmer counts.
“It was obviously highly contagious, but did it put crew out of action or otherwise limit the ship’s operations?”
That’s what I heard. It would also be nice to know if the survivors just got the sniffles, or were some near death, from this virus, and whether any of the survivors lost lung capacity, kidney function, etc. that happens to some of the survivors. Were any of them medically discharged due to long-term effects like this?
Being a ship is a confined space where you may encounter it several times a day, it doesn’t offer much in the way of casual infection from outdoors or a single encounter with a single individual.
Can’t wait for the headlines and head scratching in 3-5 years.
“Apple to Oranges. Theodore Roosevelt represents healthy active navy personnel. While the flu rate quoted is inclusive of all ages, including the very old.”
Absolutely right. The average age on an aircraft carrier is probably under 30. Strange how people writing this article can be so clueless.
I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff since COVID started.
Especially when it comes to stats.
If you are healthy enough to riot and terrorize and steal then you won’t have to worry about the chinese virus.
Just the democrat party virus.
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