Rumour suggests is by way of acknowledging that as yet no accurate data exists.
coronavirus case
78,880
view by country
Deaths:
2,466
Recovered:
23,335
Fatality rate 3.1%
I have deliberately understated mortality in order to avoid accusations of "weasel words" by the usual.
It is a fact of life that as the number of cases increase beyond a certain level the emergency services are swamped. Nominally 350,000 victims at any one time would fill all intensive care beds.
As the number of cases increase, the quality of care becomes compromised. Creating emergency beds is easy - to have them kitted out for intensive care is not. When the lungs need help beyond simple oxygen, you will find ventilators and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation equipment are in short supply. As a result, at the height of infectious cases the mortality tate could be expected to increase markedly.
That unfortiunately is a fact.
It is still too early to be precise about how lethal this infection is. The great flu pandemic was reckoned to be a 10% mortality of the 1/3 of world population who were infected.
If attempts to confine the virus fail the aftermath will be untidy.