Why South Korea has so few coronavirus deaths while Italy has so many
冠狀病毒死亡，為什麼韓國這麼少，意大利這麼多？
In South Korea, the rate of testing has been quite high (3,692 tests per million people as of March 8), and its mortality among those infected quite low (about 0.6%, or 66 deaths, at last count).
韓國檢測率相當高（截至3月8日，每百萬人3,692次檢測），感染者死亡率相當低（最終統計約為0.6%，即66例死亡）。
By contrast, Italy tests about 826 people per million and its mortality among those with diagnosed infection is about 10 times higher, with more than 1,000 people dead from the disease.
相比之下，意大利每百萬人檢測大約826人，而確診感染者的死亡率大約是10倍左右，1,000多人死亡。
According to a UN report in 2015, 28.6% of the Italian population was 60 years old or older (second in the world after Japan at 33%). This compares to South Korea, where 18.5% of the population is at least 60 years of age, ranking 53rd globally.
根據聯合國2015年的一份報告，意大利60歲或以上人口為28.6%（僅次於日本的33%），居世界第二位。相比之下，韓國60歲以上人口為18.5%，全球排名第53位。
In Italy, 90% of the more than 1,000 deaths occur in those 70 or older.
意大利1,000多例死亡中90%發生在70歲或以上老人。
By contrast, the outbreak in South Korea has occurred among much younger people. There, only 20% of cases have been diagnosed in those 60 years old and up. The largest affected group is those in their 20s, who account for almost 30% of all cases.
相比之下，韓國的疫情多發生在年輕人中。60歲及以上的病例中只有20%確診。受影響最大的群體是20多歲的人，佔所有病例的近30%。
The gender split in COVID-19 cases worldwide is about 50-50, but there are gender differences in survival. According to data from the original outbreak in China, the overall death rate is 4.7% in men versus 2.8% in women -- a whopping difference. Which is good news for South Korea, where 62% of cases occur among women.
全世界COVID-19病例的性別比例約為50-50，但在患者生存方面存在性別差異。根據中國最初疫情的數據，男性的整體死亡率為4.7%，女性為2.8%，相差很大。對韓國來說是這個好消息，韓國62%的病例發生在女性當中。
Smoking is another factor clearly associated with poor survival. Smoking rates are about the same between the two countries: 24% for Italians and 27% for South Koreans. But gender differences among smokers are widely different: In Italy, 28% of men versus 20% of women smoke, while in Korea, it is about 50% of men and less than 5% (!) of women.
吸菸是另一個明顯與生存率不良相關的因素。兩國之間的吸菸率大致相同：意大利人為24%，韓國人為27%。但吸菸者的性別差異大相徑庭：意大利28%的男性吸菸，20%女性吸菸，韓國大約50%的男性和不到5%的女性吸菸。
In other words, South Korea has an outbreak among youngish, non-smoking women, whereas Italy's disease is occurring among the old and the very old, many of whom are smokers.
換句話說，韓國疫情多發生於年輕女性、不吸菸的婦女當中，而意大利的疾病則多發生在老年人和更老的老年人當中，其中多數人吸菸。
These basic demographic distinctions explain the difference in death rates between these two hard-hit countries -- as well as helping to explain why Seattle, with its nursing home outbreak, accounts for such a large proportion of US coronavirus deaths.
這些基本的人口差異解釋了這兩個遭重創國家死亡率的差異，並有助於解釋為什麼西雅圖，由於療養院爆發疫情，佔美國冠狀病毒死亡的比例比較大。
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