COVID-19: Pespective

In response to those who would discount the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic, or who would reduce the human death toll to a statistic or a percentage of the population, and then dismiss them as insignificant, it may be noteworthy to compare coronavirus deaths with deaths from the worst pandemics/epidemics in the United States since the early 20^th century:

Date	Pandemic	# Deaths	Length of Pandemic
1918	H1N1 Spanish Flue	675000	One Year
1921-25	Diphtheria	14000	Average annual deaths over 5 years
1916-55	Polio	1225	Average annual deaths over 40 years
1957	H2N2  Bird Flu	116000	One Year
2009	H1N1 Swine Flu	12469	One Year
1985-2013	HIV/AIDS*	24000	Average annual deaths over 28 years
2020	COVID-19** (Mar-Aug)	182818	six months

 I have no criteria by which to qualify the advance of medical science in the 102 years between 1918 and 2020; nevertheless, whatever evaluative criteria one may find, medical science today has advanced beyond that of any of the previous pandemic or epidemic eras. Yet, even with that advantage, aside from The Spanish Flu in 1918, The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed—in six months—more American lives than the total annual deaths (averaging the annual deaths from pandemics that lasted more than one year) from all the previous epidemics and pandemics combined!

Perspective.

I also am aware that America’s population today is larger than previous eras considered. Still, I am at a total loss to understand the blasé, casual approach of so many conservative Americans to a pandemic whose death toll in six months significantly outstrips the total combined annual deaths of previous major pandemics over the past 100 years! How is that insignificant?

While the research is yet too young to be conclusive, the evidence of long-term impact of the coronavirus increases with every study: heart and lung damage, neurological symptoms, and serious questions about immunity for those who survive. And the virus appears already to have gone through one or more mutations, making it even more difficult to pin down and treat. How is that insignificant?

The most difficult aspect for me to understand is how so many Americans dismiss out of had the recommendations of the leading medical authorities on the planet! [I know: liberal conspiracy. Right?]

Natural medicine has its value. I practice it, but not exclusively. It’s been my observation that not much of life comes to us in singular, neatly wrapped packages; nor does much of life present itself in a binary, right/wrong, black/white, good/evil format. Almost all of life is lived in relation to a balance of factors lived out on an ideological continuum. Life is comprised of the decisions each person makes in relation to the challenges and opportunities presented by that continuum. For the Christian, those decisions are informed by the way a person understands and follows Jesus of Nazareth.

To a significant degree, human problems begin when fallible persons or groups settle at one position along life’s spectrum and declare that position to be absolute and infallible.

“A 5% death rate is acceptable.” REALLY!?!?! There’s absolutely no way of discerning how many of those deaths could have been prevented had Bubba not been so pig-headed about wearing a mask and keeping his distance and avoiding social gatherings. Preventable deaths are not acceptable!

“But my rights…!!!” Baloney! Your rights stop where my nose begins; and you do not have the right to gamble with my health or my family’s health—or maybe even our lives, just to make your statement. And, of course, Bubba seems incapable of considering the possibility that he may be wrong. [see comments above about making one’s position on life’s continuum absolute and infallible.]

Neither 882,818 deaths, nor any percent thereof, can be dismissed flippantly —especially by any who claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ, and especially when the overwhelming majority of respected medical science has indicated that some of those deaths could have been avoided by compliance to some simple precautions (acknowledging that the precautions can be somewhat incongruent with our comfort zones.)

How many rallies, sporting events, church re-openings, face-to-face on-site school re-openings (including major universities), parties, and concerts have been followed by spikes in the incidence of infection? How is that insignificant?

From Bubba to the White House, a major subset of the American population has never taken the pandemic seriously, and continues to refuse to follow the simple guidelines established by medical science, in effect dismissing medical science’s virtual elimination of smallpox, polio, and other pandemics as a liberal conspiracy.

And as a result, America once again is #1! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

That’s the way it looks through the flawed glass that is my world view.

Together in the Walk,

Jim

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*The HIV/AIDS pandemic involved primarily a specific sub-culture, as compared to the general population included in the other pandemic deaths in this study.

**I found four different figures, with a variance of almost 3,500 deaths from the lowest to the highest. The difference in each case was the starting date, which varied from January 1 to January 21 of this year.