The flu season comes around annually and people die. In the 2018-2019 (the longest flu season) there were an estimated 34,000 deaths for all ages in the USA. No one panicked, no one put on masks, and nothing happened to the economy.
In 2020, we put on masks, shut down non-essential functions, did social distancing and "shelter in place", and so far (Yehren checks) nearly 62,000 people died so far, in spite of all those precautions. And that's an undercount; people who died at home are usually not being tested, so we don't really know yet how many others died from the virus. That will come later, when there's time to look at it carefully.
No one panicked. In fact, our leaders were asleep at the wheel, and allowed the pandemic to spread widely in America before doing anything. That cost a lot of lives, but fortunately, governors stepped up and took action themselves, saving countless lives.
It's not over yet, and indications are that releasing controls at this time will kill even more people.
Last edited: