That study estimates years of life lost for people that died, not the infected population:
Among patients dying of COVID-19, there appears to be a considerable burden in terms of years of life lost
I don't think you are deliberately misusing statistics here, but this common confusion massively overstates the risk of infection in the same way that the early focus on Case Fatality Rates did. To be meaningful, those Years Of Life Lost numbers need to be multiplied by the Infection Fatality Rate.
I can't find an IFR for 75+, but the CDC currently has 1.3% for age 65+. The average 65yo has 19.1 years of life remaining (2010 stats, also from the CDC).
1.3% * 19.1 years = ~0.25 years, or about 4 months.
This is probably a conservative estimate - older people have fewer years remaining.
Look, if covid-19 actually reduced the average lifespan of the population by a decade, I'd be in a panic too. Thankfully, it doesn't.
I'm don't think I'm deliberately or accidentally misusing statistics. I think it's useful to look at it from both points of view.
You said "All so that 75 year olds can have an extra month or two of average life expectancy", which gives the impression that the virus is only taking people a couple of months ahead of their natural death; this is not the case if you look at the average. People are dying with years of useful life left.
You might also like to do that calculation for the worst-case scenario of hospitals being overwhelmed, to see the much more serious situation we're trying to avoid.
Among patients dying of COVID-19, there appears to be a considerable burden in terms of years of life lost
I don't think you are deliberately misusing statistics here, but this common confusion massively overstates the risk of infection in the same way that the early focus on Case Fatality Rates did. To be meaningful, those Years Of Life Lost numbers need to be multiplied by the Infection Fatality Rate.
I can't find an IFR for 75+, but the CDC currently has 1.3% for age 65+. The average 65yo has 19.1 years of life remaining (2010 stats, also from the CDC).
1.3% * 19.1 years = ~0.25 years, or about 4 months.
This is probably a conservative estimate - older people have fewer years remaining.
Look, if covid-19 actually reduced the average lifespan of the population by a decade, I'd be in a panic too. Thankfully, it doesn't.