Analysis of the Concept of Deaths per Million in the Impact Assessment of COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020

Abstract

The pandemic of the Coronavirus disease 2019 has been quite devastating. Assessing the success of the public health measures put in place by different nations has become a herculean task, especially as there is no effective index to determine that. The existing public health indices such as the Case fatality ratio and Mortality rate have not proven efficient in ascertaining the progress made in the early implementation of some public health measures. Hence, the index Deaths Per Million, an estimated mortality rate, is considered an alternative tool to ascertain the progress made at the onset and peak of the pandemic. In this case study, we have compared these three indices to know which best fits the pandemic. We also elucidated when and how deaths per million can be efficiently utilized during a pandemic to know the most appropriate time to impose lockdowns and other public health measures. This is considering the tendency for lockdowns to affect the psycho-social skills of humans and adversely impact economic activities both locally and globally. This work further provided evidence why the index Deaths Per Million is preferred during a pandemic over case fatality ratio and mortality. This was done using statistics from various countries for one year. These countries were selected based on their population and their peculiar nature.