False Comparisons Promote Apathy and Complacency

Several attempts have been made to downplay and poo-poo the seriousness of the COVID-19 virus from the President's claim that it would be no worse than the flu to Dr. Phil comparing it to the number of annual drownings:

"So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu…" Trump March 9, 2020

“360,000 (deaths) a year from swimming pools. But we don’t shut the country down for that.”  Dr. Phil April 20, 2020

Dr. Phil misstated the number of deaths from drowning in pools by over 10 times the number of drownings. The actual number of deaths from drowning is about 3700 people and this is not limited to pool drownings. It includes lakes, rivers, suicides, boating accidents, and floods.

• The first problem with these comparisons is that it is not even the end of April and COVID-19 has already surpassed the number of deaths annually from the flu and drownings in the US.
• The second problem is that we go to great lengths to keep those numbers down research, awareness campaigns, education, etc., and in the case of the common flu vaccines, but we have nothing in place for COVID-19. The common flu comparison shouldn't be to today's death rates but to the 1957 (70,000 deaths) and 1918 (675,000 deaths) flu epidemics because the major contributing factor back then was, like today, the lack of a vaccine
• The third problem is false comparisons. Comparing a contagious disease to drownings, suicides and traffic accidents, shark and bear attack deaths is ridiculous. Drowning isn't contagious. But for the record, COVID-19 has already passed those numbers too. The country is shut down because COVID-19 is contagious and we have no vaccine, tracking, or widespread testing.
  We have also surpassed the annual number for  The 1921-1925 Diphtheria epidemic, the 1906 Typhoid fever epidemic, and at this rate, COVID-19 will also surpass Kidney Disease and Diabetes annual deaths.

These comparisons are as counter-productive as the apathy, scapegoating, self-promotion,  and indecisiveness displayed by our presidential leadership. Our response at the national level is woefully lacking in comparison to the rest of the world.

Only 4 months passed and we are already at 45,000 deaths.

by GlennDL

To review weekly FactCheck updates on the COVID-19 virus see the "COVID-19 FACTCHECK ARCHIVE FEED" at the top of the left-hand column on this page.

Sources:

• The Most Dangerous Epidemics in U.S. History
• Deaths and Mortality Data are for the U.S.
• ROAD SAFETY FACTS
• Like the flu? Trump's coronavirus messaging confuses public, pandemic researchers say