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Viral Plane Analogy Explains Just How Bad The Coronavirus Situation In The USA Really Is
Big numbers are hard to digest. So evaluating the true effect of the coronavirus might be difficult, too. After all, what do tens of thousands of deaths really mean in the context of a nation? The world? A lot, actually.
To put into perspective the lives COVID-19 has claimed in the United States, Facebook user Joanne Faulkner Pasmore shared an analogy. Pasmore invited everyone to look at them as if they were lost in plane crashes. Granted, she did it in July when the death toll was smaller, but the argument remains the same.
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In a recent interview with Australian journalist Jonathan Swan, President Trump looked at the numbers and said the situation in the US was “under control”.
“It is what it is,” Trump added after being pressured, justifying his position with the phrase “We’re lower than the world.”
However, the US isn’t “lower than the world.” As of this article, 173,716 people have died in the country from the virus, which equates to 524 deaths per 1 million people. The global average is 99.8.
Here’s what people said after reading the analogy
What do you think ?
Cori 5 years ago
My mom is a kindergarten teacher. She just attended a training at her school (the same school where I'm expected to send my 6 year old in a week). She called me so angry and frustrated she was practically in tears. She said her principal, the presenter from California and the majority of teachers weren't wearing masks at the training. She has some auto immune issues, in addition to being in her 60's, and she is genuinely scared to go to work. And I'm seriously rethinking in person classes for my kid.
Michael Price 5 years ago
Fake News. Planes don't exist. Weeks don't exist. Fox News tells me that Emperor Bone Spurs is the bestest President ever.
Nevits Yibble 5 years ago
Well, sadly... I guess we know the old saying: 1 death is an outrage, 100,000 deaths is a statistic
Dippin Dot 5 years ago
In Wisconsin, we have had 295 fatal vehicle crashes. This number would be higher if people weren't wearing seat belts, were texting and driving, were drinking and driving, and drove at whatever speed they want. We have laws in place forbidding these activities while in a vehicle. Likewise, the state has spent money on campaigns to remind drivers "let's achieve zero deaths on Wisconsin roads." Yet when there's a pandemic, people are told masks are mandatory* but it's up to each municipality if they are going to enforce it or not (which means they are not). We see the death count rise at a exponentially higher rate than with automobiles, but god forbid we infringe on their right to be an a*****e by telling them they have to wear something to achieve zero deaths... oh wait....
N G 5 years ago
Unfortunately, you'll find there was pushback initially against seatbelts (not necessarily in Wisconsin), and people still need regular reminders, not to text/drink and drive. In many places what was successful was essentially peer pressure - making something socially unacceptable and the person who does it a pariah is more effective than government mandates. And it still takes time. All this is still new, comparatively speaking, and people are pushing back in fear that the extraordinary requests being made of them aren't just temporary to get through an extraordinary situation, but a permanent change to their lives. If there is no vaccine, no herd immunity, and cases continue, the pushback will slowly stop, because it has become as normal as putting a seatbelt on.
Load More Replies...
Bill 5 years ago
I think I'm going as the "Bring out your dead" guy from Monty Python for Haloween
Electric Ed 5 years ago
Can I ride as dead person 1 on the cart you pull?
Load More Replies...
Brandy Grote 5 years ago
That last comment made me feel nauseous. Terrifying. Apt, even so. Some of those planes landed on towns, cities, factories, farms. Decimating them, ruining livelihoods, changing the entire nation. Cinnamon Hitler messed up. He should be jailed for manslaughter.
Animal lover❤ 5 years ago
If this is what we need to do to get people to understand, so be it. I'm sick of this so can you boneheads be considerate for once? Please and thank you
Carol Lewis 5 years ago
What I don't understand is how people can still say that this is exaggerated and the counts arent accurate. I still have family members telling me that. I live in California and they are in other states, mostly mid west. Maybe they are in denial because of fear. I'm not overly fearful just careful.
Chelseayaknow 5 years ago
Because it is a fact that hospitals get a the most amount of money back if it is COVID related under the CARES act. They get the most back for Medicare, which you guessed it, has the highest mortality rate (65 and older). https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/3000638001
Load More Replies...
Toni Ostarcevic 5 years ago (edited)
Talking about perspective - so far about 800,000 people died of Corona world wide. The world wide overall deaths for this year are about 37,000,000. I'm not trying to play it down - 2% because of a single reason is very much, actually. But there aren't like hundred times more people dying currently because of Corona. Many people are loosing their minds out of fear, and the media also doesn't do much to put the numbers anywhere into perspective. Many people aren't really aware about how large the world population actually is, and that more than 100,000 people die every day. Numbers don't tell you very much if you don't have any reference for scale. This doesn't mean that the situation isn't bad, or that you should take it easy or be careless. Take the security measures seriously, but don't be scared by them too much and don't think about it all day. This crisis will go over, as many before.
Cori 5 years ago
My mom is a kindergarten teacher. She just attended a training at her school (the same school where I'm expected to send my 6 year old in a week). She called me so angry and frustrated she was practically in tears. She said her principal, the presenter from California and the majority of teachers weren't wearing masks at the training. She has some auto immune issues, in addition to being in her 60's, and she is genuinely scared to go to work. And I'm seriously rethinking in person classes for my kid.
Michael Price 5 years ago
Fake News. Planes don't exist. Weeks don't exist. Fox News tells me that Emperor Bone Spurs is the bestest President ever.
Nevits Yibble 5 years ago
Well, sadly... I guess we know the old saying: 1 death is an outrage, 100,000 deaths is a statistic
Dippin Dot 5 years ago
In Wisconsin, we have had 295 fatal vehicle crashes. This number would be higher if people weren't wearing seat belts, were texting and driving, were drinking and driving, and drove at whatever speed they want. We have laws in place forbidding these activities while in a vehicle. Likewise, the state has spent money on campaigns to remind drivers "let's achieve zero deaths on Wisconsin roads." Yet when there's a pandemic, people are told masks are mandatory* but it's up to each municipality if they are going to enforce it or not (which means they are not). We see the death count rise at a exponentially higher rate than with automobiles, but god forbid we infringe on their right to be an a*****e by telling them they have to wear something to achieve zero deaths... oh wait....
N G 5 years ago
Unfortunately, you'll find there was pushback initially against seatbelts (not necessarily in Wisconsin), and people still need regular reminders, not to text/drink and drive. In many places what was successful was essentially peer pressure - making something socially unacceptable and the person who does it a pariah is more effective than government mandates. And it still takes time. All this is still new, comparatively speaking, and people are pushing back in fear that the extraordinary requests being made of them aren't just temporary to get through an extraordinary situation, but a permanent change to their lives. If there is no vaccine, no herd immunity, and cases continue, the pushback will slowly stop, because it has become as normal as putting a seatbelt on.
Load More Replies... Bill 5 years ago
I think I'm going as the "Bring out your dead" guy from Monty Python for Haloween
Electric Ed 5 years ago
Can I ride as dead person 1 on the cart you pull?
Load More Replies... Brandy Grote 5 years ago
That last comment made me feel nauseous. Terrifying. Apt, even so. Some of those planes landed on towns, cities, factories, farms. Decimating them, ruining livelihoods, changing the entire nation. Cinnamon Hitler messed up. He should be jailed for manslaughter.
Animal lover❤ 5 years ago
If this is what we need to do to get people to understand, so be it. I'm sick of this so can you boneheads be considerate for once? Please and thank you
Carol Lewis 5 years ago
What I don't understand is how people can still say that this is exaggerated and the counts arent accurate. I still have family members telling me that. I live in California and they are in other states, mostly mid west. Maybe they are in denial because of fear. I'm not overly fearful just careful.
Chelseayaknow 5 years ago
Because it is a fact that hospitals get a the most amount of money back if it is COVID related under the CARES act. They get the most back for Medicare, which you guessed it, has the highest mortality rate (65 and older). https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/3000638001
Load More Replies... Toni Ostarcevic 5 years ago (edited)
Talking about perspective - so far about 800,000 people died of Corona world wide. The world wide overall deaths for this year are about 37,000,000. I'm not trying to play it down - 2% because of a single reason is very much, actually. But there aren't like hundred times more people dying currently because of Corona. Many people are loosing their minds out of fear, and the media also doesn't do much to put the numbers anywhere into perspective. Many people aren't really aware about how large the world population actually is, and that more than 100,000 people die every day. Numbers don't tell you very much if you don't have any reference for scale. This doesn't mean that the situation isn't bad, or that you should take it easy or be careless. Take the security measures seriously, but don't be scared by them too much and don't think about it all day. This crisis will go over, as many before.
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