Here is a list of 5 things you never knew about the global pandemic.
1. Corona Virus was already existing before 2019: Coronavirus disease was first described in 1931, with the first coronavirus (HCoV-229E) isolated from humans in 1965. Until the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in late 2002, only two human coronaviruses (HCoV) were known – HCoV-229E and HCoV-OC43.
2. The virus cannot harm you until it gets into your body: This is a general characteristic of viruses as they usually are seemingly lifeless until they get into your system. Once they do, it becomes difficult to deal with.
3. Patients who recover may still catch the disesase: There is no proof yet that patients who recover develop immunity, as a recent report showed that a woman from Korea who tested negative, still contracted the disease (The sunday times).
4. Vaccines may not be developed anytime soon: Ebola Virus vaccine was developed in 5 years, which is one of the fastest developed vaccines. However, efforts are being made to develop a vaccine between 12- 18 months. Prevention is the best method now.
5. The Virus itself does not kill: Although the presence of the virus in the body causes pneumonia and general weakness, what leads to the death of the victim is the immune system's action. The immune system tries to fight the virus in the bronchioles. The clash between the two rivals, results in the production of a fluid which blocks the respiratory tract, leading to inability to breath. This is why ventilators are used to keep the patient alive. Without ventilators, survival would be very difficult.
STAY SAFE!!!

OP, you don't need a ventilator in all cases. It depends on the state of immunity you've got

Quick question.

Obesity is cited, alongside high blood pressure, as a condition that could increase likelihood of c19 death.

Here is a list of countries by obesity prevalence
https://www.cia.gov/library/publication ... 8rank.html

Could this not be a stronger predictor of death than anything else?

China, Japan, Korea are way down. UK and US are way up. Scandinavia is in the middle.

Information taken from an article in the UK:

An analysis of 3,883 Covid-19 patients admitted to 229 critical care units in England, Wales and Northern Ireland up to Thursday has been published by the Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre.

Of these patients, 871 have died, 818 have been discharged, and 2,194 were last reported as still receiving critical care.

The average age of the patients was 59.8 years. Some 72.5% were male, and 27.5% female. Some 66.4% were white, 14.4% Asian, 11.9% black, and 1.3% of mixed race.

Nearly three-quarters of the patients had a body mass index higher than the recommended healthy level of 18.5 to 25. Some 35% had a BMI of 25 to 30 - the overweight range. And 38.5% had a BMI over more than 30 - putting them in the obese range.

feedthenation:
Information taken from an article in the UK:

An analysis of 3,883 Covid-19 patients admitted to 229 critical care units in England, Wales and Northern Ireland up to Thursday has been published by the Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre.

Of these patients, 871 have died, 818 have been discharged, and 2,194 were last reported as still receiving critical care.

The average age of the patients was 59.8 years. Some 72.5% were male, and 27.5% female. Some 66.4% were white, 14.4% Asian, 11.9% black, and 1.3% of mixed race.

Nearly three-quarters of the patients had a body mass index higher than the recommended healthy level of 18.5 to 25. Some 35% had a BMI of 25 to 30 - the overweight range. And 38.5% had a BMI over more than 30 - putting them in the obese range.

your last paragraph was what I had in mind before now.