# 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:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![vislor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vislor/32/5933_2.png) [@vislor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vislor)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/21 "2020-03-11T20:24:28Z")
This is an article I got about the spread and rates and how China differs from Iran and San Francisco. I can’t say it made me feel better. > **[Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now](https://tomaspueyo.medium.com/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca)** > > Politicians and Business Leaders: What Should You Do and When? ---
**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, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/22 "2020-03-11T23:34:54Z")
From the article that **vislor** posted: Quote: This is what you can conclude: [ul] [li]Countries that are prepared will see a fatality rate of ~0.5% (South Korea) to 0.9% (rest of China).[/li][li]Countries that are overwhelmed will have a fatality rate between ~3%-5%[/li][/ul] Put in another way: Countries that act fast can reduce the number of deaths by ten. And that’s just counting the fatality rate. Acting fast also drastically reduces the cases, making this even more of a no-brainer.Countries that act fast reduce the number of deaths at least by 10x. There is also this [twitter thread about events on the ground in Italy](https://twitter.com/jasonvanschoor/status/1237142891077697538?s=20): Quote: The current situation is difficult to imagine and numbers do not explain things at all. Our hospitals are overwhelmed by Covid-19, they are running 200% capacity ``` Quote: Patients above 65 or younger with comorbidities are not even assessed by ITU, I am not saying not tubed, I’m saying not assessed and no ITU staff attends when they arrest. ``` The most useful suggestion comes in that thread: it makes sense to self-isolate now and not to wait for the government to act. ---
**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, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/23 "2020-03-11T23:36:48Z")
Apologies for the weird formatting in my last post. When I try to edit the post, it disappears. When I recreate it and post it, the formatting is screwy. Rinse and repeat. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/24 "2020-03-19T12:33:59Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > Stalin was right on another point. It’s not who votes that counts; it’s who counts the votes. I thought that was Lyndon Johnson. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/25 "2020-03-20T18:29:59Z")
Even if only 2% are dead, I’ll be one of those 2%. A tragedy for me at least. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/26 "2020-03-20T18:43:49Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > 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. If we’re being honest, killing off the elderly and the diseased would save money long term on welfare, social security and health care costs. Also hopefully (but unlikely) since consumer demand has collapsed maybe we will get legislation to increase consumer demand. Laws that make jobs more stable, wages higher, etc. so people have money to spend. ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Schmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Some\_Schmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Schmo)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246/27 "2020-03-22T16:28:25Z")
> [@Esprise\_Me](#): > > If it costs Trump the election… Since it was his specific audience who got the early news it was all a hoax, one would imagine the people least fearful and most likely to ignore preventative transmission advice would be his base. Also assuming his base is an older crowd (the Fox News audience), I’m guessing COVID-19 is going to have quite a say on the size of his support. This may be the one instance where Trump can’t talk his way out of his lies. The virus will serve as a pretty good fact checker. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-single-death-is-a-tragedy-a-million-deaths-is-a-statistic/849246.md?page=1)