US death toll from Covid-19 just surpassed that of the 1918 flu pandemic - September 20, 2021

[sharon sanders]

The US death toll from Covid-19 just surpassed that of the 1918 flu pandemic

Despite all the scientific and medical advances of the past 103 years, the Covid-19 pandemic has now killed more Americans than the 1918 flu pandemic did.

More than 675,000 people in the United States have died from Covid-19, according to Johns Hopkins University. That surpasses the estimated US death toll from the deadliest pandemic of the 20th century.
"If you would have talked to me in 2019, I would have said I'd be surprised," said epidemiologist Stephen Kissler of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.

more...

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/20/health/us-covid-deaths-surpass-1918-pandemic/index.html

[longshots]

It is very frustrating the way certain numbers are thrown about... so the death toll has surpassed that of the 1918 flu pandemic... but the population was around 103.2 million... adjusted for the current population of around 330 million that would equate to around 2.16 million... and we may get there as we are propagating a possibly years long slow burn by lockdowns and a vaccine that while it seems to prevent serious sickness and death does not prevent the vaccinated from spreading infection. And like all viruses it will evolve.

We have approached this pandemic as if we are so much smarter than all our ancestors. While we may be a little more technologically advanced over our early 20th century counterparts, it is still a novel virus. We talk about "defeating it." It is not organized creating a strategic plan, it is a virus. We talk about "outsmarting it." It is not implementing tactical decisions, it is a virus. We anthropomorphize it calling it "evil." While semantically it gives us a way to reference things the bottom line is that it is just a virus and it will run its course. Our mitigations may work, they may not, but we are not playing a chess game of move and then waiting for the virus to "decide" what it will do next. It is just a virus. It will run its course. If we get lucky it will eventually become a milder virus. If we get unlucky, it may sicken and kill a whole lot more of us. Only time will tell.

[sharon sanders]

Agree, except 675k people is still a lot of deaths, even in a population of 330 million. A more accurate report would have calculated the population size difference.

I think the government continues to make a lot of mistakes. The big one now is all of the talk of required vaccine passports for vaccines that do not stop the spread. What is the point then? People are not going to comply unless they see a benefit for themselves. These passport actions just serve to enrage the approximately 45% who are not vaccinated. Mostly they are choosing not to vaccinate. Everyone knows about the the free vaccines.

Lockdowns have been largely worthless except for the first 120 days in 2020 when we did not have any other defenses. They are worthless because humans are wired to be social. We will socialize anyway.

It is incumbent for the government to protect the vulnerable people who can not protect themselves, like frail nursing home residents. But for everyone else - we are on our own. If you want to attend large indoor gatherings...hey... do it. You are taking that risk for yourself and everyone who you are in contact with. You will bear that responsibility.

What is the alternative? China? Bend over while some stranger sticks a probe up your ass? Routinely quarantine entire apartment complexes for one case? Close sections of a city where one case was found? Really? What?

This is where we are now. I do not expect my grocery store to protect me. I protect me.

All governments need to back off. Leaders know that every pandemic scenario predicted as many collateral deaths as pandemic disease deaths - including violence. Let's not go there.


Disclosure: I am fully vaccinated, practice social distancing, and always carry a mask. My choice.

[etudiant]

Are the statistics comparable?
Afaik, the Spanish Flu killed some 50+MM people world wide back in 1918-19, when there were about 2 billion people globally.
Now we have about 8 billion and the Covid toll over the past 20 months is under 5 million, maybe 3MM/yr
Yet US deaths from Covid reportedly exceed those from the Spanish Flu, while everyone else is doing way better, at least in terms of deaths..
Something seems seriously out of whack imho.

[sharon sanders]

FluTrackers stopped counting a year ago because the numbers were getting too fuzzy. I think only the excess deaths numbers will tell the real story as we look back. For now...well...? Also, I have no confidence in the 1918 numbers.

[alert]

The global confirmed fatality count for COVID is about 5 million. The actual number of COVID deaths worldwide is probably 15-20 million and might end up double that or more by the time this is over.

The world has perhaps four times the population than it did in 1918, but COVID has perhaps one-half or one-third the fatality rate of the 1918 flu. I wouldn't be surprised if the global death toll for COVID exceeded that of the 1918 flu by the time this was over.

[Emily]

The population most affected by COVID has a high death rate anyway. Even young obese people have a higher risk of dying from the flu. A better way to look at it is loss of life years. I think that is minimal compared to 1918 when healthy younger people were dying.
And remember the most deadly activity of all - being born. That has a 100% death rate. It's time to start living while we can again.