Viral Plane Analogy Explains Just How Bad The Coronavirus Situation In The USA Really Is

Big numbers are hard to digest. So evaluating the true effect of the coronavirus might be difficult, too. After all, what do tens of thousands of deaths really mean in the context of a nation? The world? A lot, actually.

To put into perspective the lives COVID-19 has claimed in the United States, Facebook user Joanne Faulkner Pasmore shared an analogy. Pasmore invited everyone to look at them as if they were lost in plane crashes. Granted, she did it in July when the death toll was smaller, but the argument remains the same.

In a recent interview with Australian journalist Jonathan Swan, President Trump looked at the numbers and said the situation in the US was “under control”.

“It is what it is,” Trump added after being pressured, justifying his position with the phrase “We’re lower than the world.”

However, the US isn’t “lower than the world.” As of this article, 173,716 people have died in the country from the virus, which equates to 524 deaths per 1 million people. The global average is 99.8.

Here’s what people said after reading the analogy

Viral Plane Analogy Explains Just How Bad The Coronavirus Situation In The USA Really Is

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

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Greta is a Photo Editor-in-Chief at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication.In 2016, she graduated from Digital Advertising courses where she had an opportunity to meet and learn from industry professionals. In the same year, she started working at Bored Panda as a photo editor.Greta is a coffeeholic and cannot survive a day without 5 cups of coffee... and her cute, big-eared dog.Her biggest open secret: she is a gamer with a giant gaming backlog.

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Cori 4 years ago

My mom is a kindergarten teacher. She just attended a training at her school (the same school where I'm expected to send my 6 year old in a week). She called me so angry and frustrated she was practically in tears. She said her principal, the presenter from California and the majority of teachers weren't wearing masks at the training. She has some auto immune issues, in addition to being in her 60's, and she is genuinely scared to go to work. And I'm seriously rethinking in person classes for my kid.

15points