Edit: If you're saying that the "reported" death rate "appears" lower based on reported statistics, then yes testing more people can make it seem like the actual death rate is lower. Otherwise:
> 67 deaths out of nearly 8,000 cases
> 1,016 deaths and identified more than 15,000
> Surely the testing is a huge factor.
No, you can not be sure at all, especially since it is well-known that hospitals have limited capacity to treat pneumonia (ventilators and doctors trained to use them). Get sick when hospital has no capacity to treat you, and you're more likely to die. Death rate will increase very rapidly when rates of infection pass a certain point.
Testing is important, yes, but the real important part is slowing the transmission rate to a manageable level.
> If you could quickly and accurately test everyone in the country today we would know how to isolate and the whole thing would be over very soon.
Only if you can do it more-or-less completely. Otherwise, you're actually prolonging the problem. The reason we want to slow the transmission of the virus is to keep life-threatening cases at a reasonably low rate.
> 67 deaths out of nearly 8,000 cases
> 1,016 deaths and identified more than 15,000
> Surely the testing is a huge factor.
No, you can not be sure at all, especially since it is well-known that hospitals have limited capacity to treat pneumonia (ventilators and doctors trained to use them). Get sick when hospital has no capacity to treat you, and you're more likely to die. Death rate will increase very rapidly when rates of infection pass a certain point.
Testing is important, yes, but the real important part is slowing the transmission rate to a manageable level.
> If you could quickly and accurately test everyone in the country today we would know how to isolate and the whole thing would be over very soon.
Only if you can do it more-or-less completely. Otherwise, you're actually prolonging the problem. The reason we want to slow the transmission of the virus is to keep life-threatening cases at a reasonably low rate.