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Do Deaths Matter? Apparently Not So Much

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COVID combined with social media and government confusion seems to have dulled the senses of many Americans. News organizations are always polling people’s opinions on various topics and now they are asking if the number of deaths from this disease are satisfactory.

As of August 24, 2020: 172,200 people have died from COVID in the US.

A recent poll by CBC You Gov points to political positions as the lens through which people see deaths from COVID as acceptable or not. It’s a stark chart.

Compare those stats with this:

Number of Deaths from Cars, Drugs, and Guns = 145,533 per year

AND YET… we have national councils, state and local policies, and nonprofits all working to prevent or reduce these numbers.

The National Safety Council reports 38,800 people died in car crashes in 2019, an decline of 2 percent from 2018. If you want to look closers to home, the Highway Safety Organization shows deaths by state.

Sadly, the number of deaths from drug overdoses has increased 4 percent since 2018 when 67,000 people died. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) provides greater detail on these deaths, and indicates data for this year shows an increase. The graph posted on the National Institute of Drug Abuse site is a visual reminder that this scourge continues to grow in the US.

Our most recent data on gun deaths is from 2017 when 39,733 people in the US died.


These sobering statistics bring us back to the August 24, 2020 COVID Map showing that the virus is having a field day in the US.

It’s not an overstatement; this map is purely a reflection of the numbers of new infections and uncontrolled spread (Hint: being burgundy is bad).

When we consider other countries like New Zealand, Germany and South Korea who have been exemplars in managing the pandemic through national pandemic strategies, we can’t help but pause to reflect on just who thinks our own situation is “acceptable.”

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