According to the CDC, there have been 101,711 deaths as of May 29. That makes for more than one hundred thousand deaths in just about 13 weeks (first death attributed on February 26). Some people say that’s not that bad. They point to flu deaths each year. According to statnews.com, flu deaths range from 12,000 – 56,000 for the year (source). Some probably see that and say the coronavirus is not a big deal. We are talking about 13 weeks versus a year. Extrapolated out, COVID-19 would be on pace to kill over 400,000 people if the death rate stays the same. That’s just in the U.S. Does that number give any reason for pause? How about some more.
Starting with the Vietnam War, there have been 92,168 deaths of American service people (source). When we add in deaths from the war on terror, starting at 9/11/2001 (2,996 deaths), various conflicts including Iraq and Afghanistan (7,048 deaths - source) the number goes up to 102,212 deaths. Surely the death toll from coronavirus will catch up within days. Even still, that means that we have to go back through 55 years of war (first Marines landed in Vietnam in 1965) to equal the death toll from 13 weeks! That’s going back 2,860 weeks. How does that make this pandemic nothing big?
I wonder if this is not a big deal to some because of who is getting hit the hardest-the elderly, people with underlying health conditions, and minority communities. I’d love to think that we aren’t an ageist/racist country, but that is wishful thinking beyond anything else. This virus also kills at a rate 30-40 times higher than the flu (source). So for any that think this is just a passing problem or that the flu problem is worse, that is categorically false.
People protested the Vietnam War. Americans were outraged when 9/11 hit. Mass numbers of people joined the military after that to show their support and solidarity to the country. We are losing huge numbers of people to a virus, and all people can talk about is needing a haircut. How shallow have we gotten as a country? How petty are we that being able to go out and shop for clothes, or get a drink at the local bar, or go to a pool party is more important than keeping the death toll as low as possible?
I doubt that I have changed many minds, but I hope that I have given at least some sense of perspective. This pandemic is NOT a small thing. It is not an inconvenience that happened to come along and upset our economic cart. This is a devastating disease that is killing hundreds (or more) a day, just in the U.S. The economy will recover. After all, we came through the Great Depression and the Great Recession. We will get through this, but I hope we can do it with some perspective.