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https://www.theepochtimes.com/studies-show-significant-drop-in-mortality-rate-since-beginning-of-pandemic_3550621.html

Two recent studies found that the rate of mortality has been dropping for hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

One of the studies was conducted on hospitalizations in the New York University Langone Health system between March and August. An author of the study, Leora Horwitz, also an associate professor at the Grossman School of Medicine at NYU, said that from the beginning of the pandemic until now, the mortality rate for patients infected with the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus has decreased significantly.

The study, which looked at over 5,000 patients inside the Langone Health system, discovered that in the study timeframe, the mortality rate decreased from 25.6 percent in March to 7.6 percent in August—an 18 percent decrease from the start of the pandemic.

According to the data, the median age was seen to have decreased over time, meaning that as time went on, most patients infected with the CCP virus were younger. Although that change seemed to partially explain the decreased mortality rate, it didn’t account for all of it.

“Even after risk adjustment for variety of clinical and demographic factors, including severity of illness at presentation, mortality was significantly and progressively lower over the course of the study period,” the study stated.

Patients of all ages experienced a decreased mortality rate. Among those, patients who were at or over the age of 75 saw the largest decrease, from just under 45 percent in the beginning of March to a under 10 percent in August.

The study also suggests that the decreased mortality may be in part due to a combination of factors such as increased clinical experience, decreased hospital volume, as well as more advanced treatment procedures, something that was seen in another study conducted in the United Kingdom.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/epidemiologists-stray-from-the-covid-herd-11603477330?mod=opinion_lead_pos5

The Covid rebels make an unlikely pair. Jay Bhattacharya was born in Kolkata, an Indian city that pulsates with people. Martin Kulldorff is from Umeå, Sweden, population 90,000. Yet they have much in common. “I almost view Martin like a brother,” says the talkative Dr. Bhattacharya, 52, who moved to the U.S. with his Bengali parents when he was 4. “I mean, we complete each other’s sentences, as you can see.” The feeling is “mutual,” confirms the more phlegmatic Mr. Kulldorff, 58.

Dr. Bhattacharya, a physician and economist, and Mr. Kulldorf, a biostatistician—who study epidemiology at the medical schools at Stanford and Harvard, respectively—are, in the eyes of their critics, dangerous contrarians for opposing Covid-19 lockdowns. Some of the criticism borders on hysteria: A colleague accused Mr. Kulldorff of practicing “Trumpian epidemiology” after he gave an interview to the far-left Jacobin magazine in which he called for a “radically different” approach to pandemic management.

Most pertinently, the two men are the authors—with Sunetra Gupta, a professor of epidemiology at Oxford—of the Great Barrington Declaration. Published on Oct. 4, the declaration is a cri de coeur against lockdowns and other economic restrictions that have hobbled swaths of the world. It asked instead for “focused protection”—a policy of allowing “those at minimal risk of death” to resume their lives while societies concentrate on “better protecting those who are at highest risk.”

I interview the two men jointly by Zoom—Dr. Bhattacharya in California, Mr. Kulldorff in Massachusetts. The former speaks of a “systematic media campaign” against the declaration. He says Google “shadow banned” the text in the days after it was published. “If you typed in ‘Great Barrington Declaration,’ what would happen is that the actual website would appear on the second or third page, buried under a whole long list of negative stories.” (The matter has since been resolved, he says.)

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-business-activity-soars-to-20-month-high-in-october-ihs-markit_3550124.html

U.S. business activity rose to a 20-month high in October, although the rate of new business growth and new orders eased slightly, in part driven by political uncertainty ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election and concerns about the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus outbreak.

Data firm IHS Markit said on Friday its flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index (pdf), which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, rose to a reading of 55.5 this month—the highest reading since February 2019. A reading above 50 indicates growth in private sector output.

The survey’s flash services sector PMI rose to 56 this month, also a 20-month high, an encouraging sign as services account for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. Manufacturing held steady in October, with the survey’s flash manufacturing PMI ticking up slightly to 53.3 from 53.2 in September.

“The U.S. economy looks to have started the fourth quarter on a strong footing, with business activity growing at a rate not seen since early 2019,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, in a statement. “The service sector led the expansion as increasing numbers of companies adapted to life with COVID19, while manufacturing continued to report solid growth amid rising demand from households and businesses.”

Some manufacturers and service industry companies said the CCP virus crisis had an adverse impact on demand, the report indicated. Other companies said some clients were waiting to place new orders until after Election Day. The survey’s flash composite new orders index dipped to 54.3 this month from a reading of 54.8 in September, although it remained in expansion territory.