Good question and I don't know. It seems like that was a common issue of other numbers reported earlier on from other countries. Perhaps a number of weeks have to go by with clean test results to officially count as recovered. Or perhaps "recovered" is a low priority for the stat keepers and will be caught up later.
If recovery is a low priority for the statistics keepers, it effectively creates the appearance of greater illness and/or mortality than actually exists. the denominator in the mortality rate is skewed to the low side, making the disease look far more serious overall than it is. It is that sort of behaviour that drives panic, empty store shelves, unnecessary shutdowns, and economic ruin.
Now, it is an election year and there just might be people who think they can parlay disaster into gain for those of their political party--especially undoing four years of economic growth and relative prosperity--even to the point of trying to start the next depression. They only care about power, not people or their policies would have been significantly different for the past 60 years.
As I have repeatedly stated, there are definite and identifiable risk factors which significantly increase the risk of a fatal outcome.
High Blood Pressure,
Coronary Disease,
Diabetes,
to some extent, age, but the above tend to develop with increased years.
There may be other underlying medical conditions which contribute to mortality, but the vast majority of hose who have died had one or more of the above, at least in Italy and the US. We simply don't know enough about elsewhere.
If you have those conditions, or even one of them, it would be prudent to avoid exposure to the virus, whatever that takes.
But 60.8% of the US population works for a living. While I am sure there is some overlap between those with medical conditions named above and that 60.8%, a major shutdown of the economy is going to hurt everyone, and not just this week, month, or year, but quite possibly far beyond that.
Weigh the risks, weigh the cost.
Personally, the only risk factor I have is age, and that by itself may not be relevant.
I'll be working as much as I can to pay bills and feed my family, not waiting on a government dole that may well never trickle down to me.
But for some, the shutdown will destroy their businesses, and rob them of all they have.
According to the SBA, small businesses make up 49.2% of private sector employment. I'm feeling that because with the crash in oil prices, I am suddenly looking for new employment, at least until the oil markets stabilize. My economic outlook has gone from rosy to grim in a week.
Welcome to the oil patch, all over again, again. Been there done that and never could afford the t-shirt in the end.
Those who lose their jobs due to this shutdown will be without insurance soon, because COBRA rates are venomous compared to having an employer pick up most or all of the tab, and with no paycheck, generally unaffordable in the face of economic uncertainty. A tremendous number of people are living paycheck to paycheck, and another significant group is only a few weeks at most from being broke.
If it comes to that, the "have nots", especially those who worked all their lives and lost it all will be especially envious of the "haves", and whether you use the French Revolution or the Bolshevik Revolution as your model, there will be a large, angry, hungry group who will fit with the paradigm, just waiting for that spark.
Part of the wave that swept this President into office was fueled by anger--anger with Obama and Democrat policy, anger at the apparent impotence of the GOP held Congress, anger at feeling ripped off at every turn.
Carry this panic to the point where 401Ks are gone to ruin (again), where people are out of work, out of money, and out of hope, and it is a clear and present danger to this Republic.
That anger could turn against our current POTUS, fueled by media lies and panic, and in that fit of thoughtless rage elect the likes of Sanders or Biden, or even Hillary herself if they just promise change.
For that reason it behooves the POTUS to be on top of this, clear the way for tests, drug trials, and treatments which demonstrate efficacy, quell the panic, and get things back on track before the damage is too great to see palpable recovery at least in action by November.
In the meantime, the media will point fingers and treat each death as if it were a multitude, while ignoring the everyday mortality from other causes in this country, often in excess of the death toll from this novel disease, and hopefully remaining so. The absence of 'recovered' people in the statistics only feeds the notion that this is the Black Death v.2020, which it is not.
While for some and in some places things look grim, like the virus, this panic will have to run its course. Feeding it is not wise.
Emotional arguments are especially hard to avoid when there are those near and dear to us who may be at risk (my parents, for instance, whom I dearly love, and a host of other relatives two thousand miles away), and for some of us, our selves.
It behooves us all to identify the risks, assess those risks, try our damnedest to get realistic data, and not give in to the stampede going on. Those of us who have prepped, even a little, are at an advantage over people who have not, and even that has its limits, but we can selectively help those who have not.
Keep a clear head. Remain calm, we can always panic later.
