COVID-19 outbreak: MERS & SARS had higher fatality rates

Going by the fatality rates, COVID-19 appears to be relatively milder compared to SARS and MERS, which belong to the same coronavirus family of viruses. However, COVID-19 seems to be spreading much faster...

How deadly is COVID-19?
Most patients have only mild symptoms and the death rate appears to be between 2% and 5%. By comparison, seasonal flu has an average mortality rate of about 0.1%, but is highly infectious — with up to 400,000 people dying from it each year.


Global coronavirus toll
Dead: 3,100
Cases: 90,000
Spread: 73 countries & territories

WHO says the virus appears to particularly affect those over 60, and people already ill. In the first large analysis of more than 44,000 cases from China, the death rate was 10 times higher in the very elderly compared to the middle-aged.

Other strains of coronavirus, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), have much higher death rates than Covid-19.

Fatalities and spread of MERS and SARS
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS); identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012
Spread to 27 countries
Confirmed cases: 2494
Deaths: 858
Fatality rate: 34%

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS); Emerged in southern China (Guangdong) in 2002
Spread to 30 countries
Cases: 8473
Deaths: 813
Fatality rate: 9.5%