# A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 11, 2020, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246 "2020-03-11T03:21:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/1 "2020-03-11T03:21:51Z")
Attributed to Stalin, he might not have said it first. But however, let us hypothesize that the Covid 19 does kill 5% of the world’s population. :dubious: Even 10%. What good could come of this? Could any good come of it? ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/2 "2020-03-11T03:27:13Z")
It might make my commute easier. I kid. Sort of. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/3 "2020-03-11T03:32:35Z")
If it disproportionately kills the elderly and the weak, it might leave a younger, healthier population behind. Not that that would be necessarily good, but it would probably have that effect. Edit: May also lead to huge healthcare reform worldwide. And lead to more sanitary practices. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/4 "2020-03-11T03:34:17Z")
Invest in the casket biz. Look to the Spanish flu in 1918. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/5 "2020-03-11T03:55:43Z")
Sure would help the environment, for a while anyway. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/6 "2020-03-11T04:27:50Z")
It’s not as dangerous as SARS, surprisingly. The problem is that it’s more contagious, spreading person to person more easily. But the virus doesn’t survive more than a few hours on the outside. I just hope panic doesn’t clear out my local stores of my necessary staples like bottled spring water. ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/7 "2020-03-11T04:32:32Z")
If it costs Trump the election… ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/8 "2020-03-11T05:19:17Z")
I’m a little nervous at what OP chose to start this thread… ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/9 "2020-03-11T05:22:59Z")
> [@Esprise\_Me](#): > > If it costs Trump the election… If the virus is at the point where it is killing millions of people in America (which is what the OP postulates,) I don’t think it would necessarily work in Democrats’ favor. An epidemic that severe could give Trump a much more solid excuse to suspend elections (even if a president technically doesn’t have that power.) And while rural regions may be largely unafraid to vote (due to much shorter voting lines at the polls,) the big urban centers might be afraid to congregate and turn out to vote, thus suppressing the blue vote somewhat. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/10 "2020-03-11T05:34:13Z")
> [@Esprise\_Me](#): > > If it costs Trump the election… If you’re at the stage where millions of Americans are dying, it could cost Pence the election. Or Pelosi. Or Grassley. Or Pompeo. Or Mnuchin. And so forth. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/11 "2020-03-11T05:51:45Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > And while rural regions may be largely unafraid to vote (due to much shorter voting lines at the polls,) the big urban centers might be afraid to congregate and turn out to vote, thus suppressing the blue vote somewhat. Absentee voting by mail is an alternative in lots of places: > **[Absentee ballot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absentee_voting#United_States)** > > An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official polling station to which the voter is normally allocated. Methods include voting at a different location, postal voting, proxy voting and online voting. Increasing the ease of access to absentee ballots is seen by many as one way to improve voter turnout through convenience voting, though some countries require that a valid reason, such as infirmity or travel, be given before a voter can participate in... ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/12 "2020-03-11T06:34:19Z")
The 14th-century Black Death, which killed over one-third the population of Europe, is “credited” with reducing income inequality, easing the grips of feudalism and religious orthodoxy, and _perhaps_ pushing toward the scientific advances of the 15th century. But it may be futile to extrapolate from the Black Death to guesses about a 21st-century pandemic. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/13 "2020-03-11T07:55:08Z")
Stalin was glib. One death is a tragedy. One million deaths are one million tragedies, at least. Stalin was right on another point. It’s not who votes that counts; it’s who counts the votes. This applies to pandemics, too. It’s not who dies that counts; it’s who counts the dead. Those who can’t count an inauguration crowd can’t be trusted to count viral victims. Supporters, minions, and propagandists will flap whatever numbers look good. “Figgers don’t lie but liars figger.” Don’t expect this POTUS to change track. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/14 "2020-03-11T08:27:15Z")
The present estimation of COVID-19 is that it has a 3-4% death rate. WHich is about the same as the 1918 Spanish Flu. Presuming a global infection rate of 20%. 8 billion people. 20% of all humans=1.6 billion. 4% death rate: 64 million deaths. Compared with WW2, which took 55 million lives. OTH, Spanish flu was 33% infection rate. That comes to a 100 million deaths. We.Are._Fucked_ ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/15 "2020-03-11T13:15:17Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > The 14th-century Black Death, which killed over one-third the population of Europe, is “credited” with reducing income inequality, easing the grips of feudalism and religious orthodoxy, and _perhaps_ pushing toward the scientific advances of the 15th century. > > But it may be futile to extrapolate from the Black Death to guesses about a 21st-century pandemic. The Black Death thing crossed my mind too. the problem with such a comparison is that the economics of a feudal, agrarian society really don’t translate well to a modern industrial world. In 1347, Europeans were poor to an extent that is difficult for a First World resident to comprehend today. They did their best and lived lives as full and as varied as we do, but they didn’t have excess stuff, and the vast majority of economic activity was farming and so was immediately derived from arable land and pasture. The rapid death of a third of the population - the Black Death did all its damage in a span of just three or four years - instantly gave every remaining person a vastly larger share of the available land and food, and it’s not that hard for a smaller population to farm the same amount of land. Feudal society was, well, feudal, and almost everything was controlled by the nobility. With a much smaller pool of workers, there was little for it but to pay people more, drawing wealth from it having been pointlessly trapped and wasted by idle rich people. Those effects would not happen to the same extent today. It would to a degree, but we aren’t dependent on agriculture to the extent we were then. One thing that might recur though - it kind of already is - is xenophobia. The Black Death was customarily blamed on whatever the least popular local outgroup was. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/16 "2020-03-11T13:32:22Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > The present estimation of COVID-19 is that it has a 3-4% death rate. WHich is about the same as the 1918 Spanish Flu. > Presuming a global infection rate of 20%. > > 8 billion people. > 20% of all humans=1.6 billion. > > 4% death rate: 64 million deaths. > > Compared with WW2, which took 55 million lives. > > OTH, Spanish flu was 33% infection rate. > > That comes to a 100 million deaths. > > We.Are._Fucked_ Breathe man… it’s not as bad as all that. Keep in mind that the 3% rate is just a crude number reached by dividing the total number _of known infected_ by the total number of deaths. The expectation is that there are a LOT of unknown infected out there- people who just feel bad, think they have a cold or the flu, or who just didn’t go to the doctor or get tested for whatever reason. Taking all that into consideration, the expected actual mortality rate is thought to be under 1% and in the ballpark of a severe flu epidemic. [https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2002387?query=recirc\_curatedRelated\_article](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2002387?query=recirc_curatedRelated_article) ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/17 "2020-03-11T18:58:01Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Breathe man… it’s not as bad as all that. > > Keep in mind that the 3% rate is just a crude number reached by dividing the total number _of known infected_ by the total number of deaths. The expectation is that there are a LOT of unknown infected out there- people who just feel bad, think they have a cold or the flu, or who just didn’t go to the doctor or get tested for whatever reason. > > Taking all that into consideration, the expected actual mortality rate is thought to be under 1% and in the ballpark of a severe flu epidemic. > > [https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2002387?query=recirc\_curatedRelated\_article](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2002387?query=recirc_curatedRelated_article) So instead of _twice as deadly as WW2_ its only _half as deadly_. I mean, I guess the bit about _not as bad_ is accurate. Somehow I am not feeling better. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/18 "2020-03-11T19:04:36Z")
Silver lining 1 > [@pool](#): > > Sure would help the environment, for a while anyway. Silver lining 2 > [@Esprise\_Me](#): > > If it costs Trump the election… > [@AK84](#): > > The present estimation of COVID-19 is that it has a 3-4% death rate. WHich is about the same as the 1918 Spanish Flu. > Presuming a global infection rate of 20%. > > 8 billion people. > 20% of all humans=1.6 billion. > > 4% death rate: 64 million deaths. > > Compared with WW2, which took 55 million lives. > > OTH, Spanish flu was 33% infection rate. > > That comes to a 100 million deaths. > > We.Are._Fucked_ Absolutely fucked. > [@bump](#): > > Breathe man… it’s not as bad as all that. > > Keep in mind that the 3% rate is just a crude number reached by dividing the total number _of known infected_ by the total number of deaths. The expectation is that there are a LOT of unknown infected out there- people who just feel bad, think they have a cold or the flu, or who just didn’t go to the doctor or get tested for whatever reason. > > Taking all that into consideration, the expected actual mortality rate is thought to be under 1% and in the ballpark of a severe flu epidemic. > > [https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2002387?query=recirc\_curatedRelated\_article](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2002387?query=recirc_curatedRelated_article) 3.8% was the last estimate from WHO. It is higher in some places than others. It is also higher in some age cohorts than others. Dr. Fauci today was saying that we were looking at millions of deaths in the US alone. If we do not take immediately take steps to flatten the curve, we are extremely fucked. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/19 "2020-03-11T19:11:41Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Breathe man… it’s not as bad as all that. > > Keep in mind that the 3% rate is just a crude number reached by dividing the total number _of known infected_ by the total number of deaths. The expectation is that there are a LOT of unknown infected out there- people who just feel bad, think they have a cold or the flu, or who just didn’t go to the doctor or get tested for whatever reason. > > Taking all that into consideration, the expected actual mortality rate is thought to be under 1% and in the ballpark of a severe flu epidemic. > > [https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2002387?query=recirc\_curatedRelated\_article](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2002387?query=recirc_curatedRelated_article) So instead of _twice as deadly as WW2_ its only _half as deadly_. I mean, I guess the bit about _not as bad_ is accurate. Somehow I am not feeling better. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/20 "2020-03-11T20:02:44Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Attributed to Stalin, he might not have said it first. > > But however, let us hypothesize that the Covid 19 does kill 5% of the world’s population. :dubious: Even 10%. > > What good could come of this? Could any good come of it? Most people seem focused on the US, but personally the silver lining, if it happened, would be the fall of the CCP in China, for me at least. If not that, then perhaps countries moving away from such a dependency on China would be a good silver lining, moving companies out of China and limiting the power of the CCP. Perhaps another silver lining is underscoring how corrupt the WHO has become, and just in general what funding levels for organizations like the CDC should be and how important those groups are. Other than that, there aren’t a lot of silver linings I’m seeing. If this thing spreads out of control, even with a lower death rate than the 3% mentioned (and that varies wildly even in the same country, let alone country to country), it’s going to be grim. The really scary thing about this one is that it’s communicable even when people are asymptomatic. It was also given nearly 3 weeks to spread uncontrollably by China before they acknowledged it, and the CCP actively were squashing the story, even among their healthcare workers. We also don’t really know the extent of the issue even now in China, as the WHO is basically just a CCP mouthpiece on this and we only have the CCPs stats as a lot of even the limited reporting by anything but state run media is almost not existent now. I also haven’t heard much coming out of North Korea, but based on how hard South Korea has been hit it’s fairly scary to consider what might be happening there, especially since they were close to famine conditions again and their healthcare isn’t exactly top notch. A weaken population, isolationist government with poor healthcare to the general public is a recipe for really bad things. Look at what’s happening in Italy, and they are an EU nation with strong healthcare. :eek: As for the US, I think we have a bigger outbreak than is apparent from the numbers alone, due mainly to the bottle neck in testing kits. We don’t know what we don’t know, and I think our own numbers will jump up. I think in hindsight, somewhere down the road we’ll also find out that a hell of a lot more folks in China are infected than the official numbers are showing, because a lot of their drop in new cases came from a redefinition of what is or isn’t infected…and also because the CCP wants it to be lower, so it’s lower. The only seemingly good news is this thing doesn’t seem to really be breaking out much in Africa. Russia also seems to be mainly immune, though that could again be because critical information is being blocked or stifled. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246.md?page=2)