evidence: It’s difficult to know how many people are dying from COVID-19, mostly because of the lack of adequate testing for the disease, according to epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch. In addition, mortality rates may differ across U.S. regions because different populations have different distributions of risk factors, such as age, hypertension, and obesity, Lipsitch said. He said that early reports that the antiviral drug remdesivir may be helping COVID-19 patients are encouraging, but cautioned that the drug "is not a solution to the pandemic."