1 in 598 = population death rate of 0.16%. It just completely rules out that this is anything like the flu. https://twitter.com/epgntxeinstein/status/1254431408040312832

Some people are getting confused in the mentions here about population death rate (share of all pop who die) versus infection fatality rate (share of infected who die). In 2018-2019 flu, CDC estimates 34,200 dead/330M people = pop death rate of 0.01%. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2018-2019.html

Also, for folks who think the Bronx is just an outlier: the Bronx is huge. When you’re comparing PDR of 0.16% to 0.01% you might be worried if it was in a small town. Population in the Bronx means it should be very concerning if COVID hits other places hard.