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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.
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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
What do you think ?
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.
Michael Price 4 years ago
Fake News. Planes don't exist. Weeks don't exist. Fox News tells me that Emperor Bone Spurs is the bestest President ever.
Nevits Yibble 4 years ago
Well, sadly... I guess we know the old saying: 1 death is an outrage, 100,000 deaths is a statistic
Dippin Dot 4 years ago
In Wisconsin, we have had 295 fatal vehicle crashes. This number would be higher if people weren't wearing seat belts, were texting and driving, were drinking and driving, and drove at whatever speed they want. We have laws in place forbidding these activities while in a vehicle. Likewise, the state has spent money on campaigns to remind drivers "let's achieve zero deaths on Wisconsin roads." Yet when there's a pandemic, people are told masks are mandatory* but it's up to each municipality if they are going to enforce it or not (which means they are not). We see the death count rise at a exponentially higher rate than with automobiles, but god forbid we infringe on their right to be an a*****e by telling them they have to wear something to achieve zero deaths... oh wait....
N G 4 years ago
Unfortunately, you'll find there was pushback initially against seatbelts (not necessarily in Wisconsin), and people still need regular reminders, not to text/drink and drive. In many places what was successful was essentially peer pressure - making something socially unacceptable and the person who does it a pariah is more effective than government mandates. And it still takes time. All this is still new, comparatively speaking, and people are pushing back in fear that the extraordinary requests being made of them aren't just temporary to get through an extraordinary situation, but a permanent change to their lives. If there is no vaccine, no herd immunity, and cases continue, the pushback will slowly stop, because it has become as normal as putting a seatbelt on.
Load More Replies...
M O'Connell 4 years ago
I think we (Wisconsinites) would be a bit better off if the justice system weren't so lenient on intoxicated drivers. It's appalling. I've worn a mask in public since March, but prior to the mask mandate I was often given stink-eye by a certain group of maskless white men in their 50s wearing American-flag apparel. God help us all.
Bill 4 years ago
I think I'm going as the "Bring out your dead" guy from Monty Python for Haloween
Brandy Grote 4 years ago
That last comment made me feel nauseous. Terrifying. Apt, even so. Some of those planes landed on towns, cities, factories, farms. Decimating them, ruining livelihoods, changing the entire nation. Cinnamon Hitler messed up. He should be jailed for manslaughter.
Animal lover❤ 4 years ago
If this is what we need to do to get people to understand, so be it. I'm sick of this so can you boneheads be considerate for once? Please and thank you
Carol Lewis 4 years ago
What I don't understand is how people can still say that this is exaggerated and the counts arent accurate. I still have family members telling me that. I live in California and they are in other states, mostly mid west. Maybe they are in denial because of fear. I'm not overly fearful just careful.
Chelseayaknow 4 years ago
Because it is a fact that hospitals get a the most amount of money back if it is COVID related under the CARES act. They get the most back for Medicare, which you guessed it, has the highest mortality rate (65 and older). https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/3000638001
Toni Ostarcevic 4 years ago (edited)
Talking about perspective - so far about 800,000 people died of Corona world wide. The world wide overall deaths for this year are about 37,000,000. I'm not trying to play it down - 2% because of a single reason is very much, actually. But there aren't like hundred times more people dying currently because of Corona. Many people are loosing their minds out of fear, and the media also doesn't do much to put the numbers anywhere into perspective. Many people aren't really aware about how large the world population actually is, and that more than 100,000 people die every day. Numbers don't tell you very much if you don't have any reference for scale. This doesn't mean that the situation isn't bad, or that you should take it easy or be careless. Take the security measures seriously, but don't be scared by them too much and don't think about it all day. This crisis will go over, as many before.
Toni Ostarcevic 4 years ago (edited)
I've reworded some parts to make it clearer what I'm talking about. The point is, most of the people, for which articles like this are meant for, won't be converted or influenced by it at all. But the people, who already cared in the first place, will. This was meant for the people who only see all the numbers, have no connection to them, and think the world is ending. That most of the deaths are currently caused by Corona. This isn't like "calm down people, it's not that bad" like you probably perceived it. I'm aware of the seriousness of the situation. But neither panic nor ignorance will get us anywhere.
Steve Cruz 4 years ago
And to all the morons who claim, "More people die of flue," (which stopped being true when Covid deaths surpassed 30,000), influenza is coming, too. This last season saw 30,000 +/- deaths.
Steve Cruz 4 years ago
The death count in the U.S. is now 178,000 (08-21-20). Good thing they aren't EMBRYOS or Republicans might become upset.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
I have never in my life, not even among anti-vaxxers, seen such c**p logic and sneering ignorance, as I see about Covid-19. We (medical types) applied the standard model at the start. We were wrong. We have since made big loud statements to that effect, that we MUST CHANGE HUMAN BEHAVIOR TO STOP THIS b/c it is that new, that unknown. THE END.
Anastasia 4 years ago
100,000 Americans are killed or injured due to gun violence every year, yet it just continues. Much more preventable than a global pandemic..
Electric Ed 4 years ago
I dunno. Corona can be prevented by just wearing a mask and washing your hands and a bit of extra cleanliness. But getting the guns out of americans' hands... how would you do that?
Load More Replies...
Thenatural 4 years ago
100000?...one hundred thousand?....you sure? Seems a bit much....how many of that number is homicide? How many suicide?
M O'Connell 4 years ago (edited)
The CDC bureau of vital statistics shows the following breakdown for deaths recorded in 2017: Accidental discharge of firearms: 486, Suicide by discharge of firearms: 23854, Homocide by discharge of firearms: 14542. These numbers do not include an indeterminate number of people who may have been killed indirectly by firearms. As far as injuries go, 32,046 emergency room visits occurred due to firearms related accidents (non-fatal). 47,834 visits were due to firearms incidents with violent intent.
Leah Helbig 4 years ago
So another airplane analogy for you. Imagine if every day for a year actually every year a jumbo jet with 400 people in it crashed killing everyone inside. Could you ignore that? But we do and have for years it's an analogy for how many Americans die every year from medical malpractice approx 250000. That would make it the 3rd leading cause of death in the USA but its not reported as such. So you can probably take a high percentage of those covid deaths and attribute medical malpractice for them. I promise you I have been a medical provider for over 13 years. I have seen and experienced so blatant errors that are not acceptable and could've easily been avoided. Doctors don't always know what they are doing thats why its called practice.
Stannous Flouride 4 years ago
It was estimated fairly early on that if the leaders of the US & UK had taken it seriously and acted just SEVEN DAYS earlier the number of deaths would have been cut by 40% to 60%. (the variables are based on the best possible actions vs. the worst) So roughly half of those 2 nations' deaths can be directly blamed on DJ tRump and Boris Johnson.
El Dee 4 years ago
As bad as things are in the US (and they are indeed awful) and as poorly as President Trump has dealt with it you should know that things are much, MUCH worse in the UK. Higher infection rates and higher death rates. The UK has the second highest Case Fatality Rate (with 14.8% of those infected dying) after Yemen (country in the middle of a civil war) and the third worst in deaths per 100,000. The US is ranked 55th for CFR with 3.2% of the infected dying. The UK's deaths per hundred thousand are 70.37 ranking it third worst in the world and the US ranks 10th with 50.75. So, as bad as things are we should wonder why Boris Johnson is being 'let off the hook' while Trump gets such a hard time (rightly so)
sneakcollector 4 years ago
It is what it is, Donald said. He cares a s**t for America or Americans.
Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago
Substitute “fell off the end of the [flat] earth” for “crashing” or “falling out of the sky”, and you’d reach the largest number of drumpf supporters.
Dawn Murphy 4 years ago
So tired of the fear mongering for the past 6 months... No doubt this is a virus, no doubt that it will be around for years and years as it mutates and new strains are discovered. It is here people. It has been here for a while. Not a damn thing going to change that fact. If you are immune compromised, then you should be protecting yourself, just like you would with any other airborne virus. Simple as that. Remember the flu vaccine that was suppose to "prevent the flu"...how many different ones have they "created" and yet it is still here and killing people. How about we talk about something we can cure....Over 50,000 people die each month from cancer.... equivalent to OVER 200,000 in four months. This has been for the past several years. Where is the outrage and demand for a CURE?
Andrew P Jump 4 years ago
Except in this analogy, the Chinese government are shooting down the planes.
Diver Driver 4 years ago (edited)
Dumb analogy. 2.5% of the population of the US test positive for CV-19. of that Less than 6% of those succumb with the CV-19 present. Only 2 million folks fly in a year.... well not quite as much this year. Do the math. That would be a 6.3% fatality rate. Covid is a .0015% mortality rate
Tim Bijlsma 4 years ago
Its horrible but it's a big continent. If you compare it to other countries it's almost the same just a bigger number.
N G 4 years ago
The difference is that other countries are getting the virus outbreaks under control. The US government hasn't done enough to reduce the spread and 100,000s will die
Load More Replies... nunya dam 4 years ago
interesting analogy, i just wonder where it is every year when we lose between 150000 and 190000 people to the seasonal flu. We do not even have a covid-19 test. All we can test for is coronavirus which is everything from the common cold to pneumonia. dont believe me? easy enough to research. People on here need to get over their TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) and wake up!
M O'Connell 4 years ago
There would be no point in having a "COVID-19" test because COVID-19 is simply the symptomology of the disease caused by the SARs-CoV-2 virus. The virus is what is being tested for. There is significant confusion in terminology among the general public because it is rather complicated. Results from the Influenza/SARS-CoV-2 Multiplex Assay are not simply positive/negative, they WILL tell you which virus you have tested positive for. Influenza A & B are not being added to positive SARS-CoV-2 results. This is superior to the previous method (the 2019-nCoV Real-Time Reverse Transcriptase (RT)–PCR Diagnostic Panel) which required a separate influenza test to be run. My research involved resources from the CDC, and the FDA. How about yours?
Load More Replies... M O'Connell 4 years ago
If you continue to doubt me, please refer to the FDA authorized instructions for use for the Influenza/SARS-CoV-2 Multiplex Assay found here: https://www.fda.gov/media/139743/download Page 28 contains the test result interpretation grid.
Anony Mouse 4 years ago
So basically a lot of the airplane passengers were old anyway, so it's not as bad? Interesting logic.
Load More Replies...
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.
Michael Price 4 years ago
Fake News. Planes don't exist. Weeks don't exist. Fox News tells me that Emperor Bone Spurs is the bestest President ever.
Nevits Yibble 4 years ago
Well, sadly... I guess we know the old saying: 1 death is an outrage, 100,000 deaths is a statistic
Dippin Dot 4 years ago
In Wisconsin, we have had 295 fatal vehicle crashes. This number would be higher if people weren't wearing seat belts, were texting and driving, were drinking and driving, and drove at whatever speed they want. We have laws in place forbidding these activities while in a vehicle. Likewise, the state has spent money on campaigns to remind drivers "let's achieve zero deaths on Wisconsin roads." Yet when there's a pandemic, people are told masks are mandatory* but it's up to each municipality if they are going to enforce it or not (which means they are not). We see the death count rise at a exponentially higher rate than with automobiles, but god forbid we infringe on their right to be an a*****e by telling them they have to wear something to achieve zero deaths... oh wait....
N G 4 years ago
Unfortunately, you'll find there was pushback initially against seatbelts (not necessarily in Wisconsin), and people still need regular reminders, not to text/drink and drive. In many places what was successful was essentially peer pressure - making something socially unacceptable and the person who does it a pariah is more effective than government mandates. And it still takes time. All this is still new, comparatively speaking, and people are pushing back in fear that the extraordinary requests being made of them aren't just temporary to get through an extraordinary situation, but a permanent change to their lives. If there is no vaccine, no herd immunity, and cases continue, the pushback will slowly stop, because it has become as normal as putting a seatbelt on.
Load More Replies... M O'Connell 4 years ago
I think we (Wisconsinites) would be a bit better off if the justice system weren't so lenient on intoxicated drivers. It's appalling. I've worn a mask in public since March, but prior to the mask mandate I was often given stink-eye by a certain group of maskless white men in their 50s wearing American-flag apparel. God help us all.
Bill 4 years ago
I think I'm going as the "Bring out your dead" guy from Monty Python for Haloween
Brandy Grote 4 years ago
That last comment made me feel nauseous. Terrifying. Apt, even so. Some of those planes landed on towns, cities, factories, farms. Decimating them, ruining livelihoods, changing the entire nation. Cinnamon Hitler messed up. He should be jailed for manslaughter.
Animal lover❤ 4 years ago
If this is what we need to do to get people to understand, so be it. I'm sick of this so can you boneheads be considerate for once? Please and thank you
Carol Lewis 4 years ago
What I don't understand is how people can still say that this is exaggerated and the counts arent accurate. I still have family members telling me that. I live in California and they are in other states, mostly mid west. Maybe they are in denial because of fear. I'm not overly fearful just careful.
Chelseayaknow 4 years ago
Because it is a fact that hospitals get a the most amount of money back if it is COVID related under the CARES act. They get the most back for Medicare, which you guessed it, has the highest mortality rate (65 and older). https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/3000638001
Toni Ostarcevic 4 years ago (edited)
Talking about perspective - so far about 800,000 people died of Corona world wide. The world wide overall deaths for this year are about 37,000,000. I'm not trying to play it down - 2% because of a single reason is very much, actually. But there aren't like hundred times more people dying currently because of Corona. Many people are loosing their minds out of fear, and the media also doesn't do much to put the numbers anywhere into perspective. Many people aren't really aware about how large the world population actually is, and that more than 100,000 people die every day. Numbers don't tell you very much if you don't have any reference for scale. This doesn't mean that the situation isn't bad, or that you should take it easy or be careless. Take the security measures seriously, but don't be scared by them too much and don't think about it all day. This crisis will go over, as many before.
Toni Ostarcevic 4 years ago (edited)
I've reworded some parts to make it clearer what I'm talking about. The point is, most of the people, for which articles like this are meant for, won't be converted or influenced by it at all. But the people, who already cared in the first place, will. This was meant for the people who only see all the numbers, have no connection to them, and think the world is ending. That most of the deaths are currently caused by Corona. This isn't like "calm down people, it's not that bad" like you probably perceived it. I'm aware of the seriousness of the situation. But neither panic nor ignorance will get us anywhere.
Steve Cruz 4 years ago
And to all the morons who claim, "More people die of flue," (which stopped being true when Covid deaths surpassed 30,000), influenza is coming, too. This last season saw 30,000 +/- deaths.
Steve Cruz 4 years ago
The death count in the U.S. is now 178,000 (08-21-20). Good thing they aren't EMBRYOS or Republicans might become upset.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
I have never in my life, not even among anti-vaxxers, seen such c**p logic and sneering ignorance, as I see about Covid-19. We (medical types) applied the standard model at the start. We were wrong. We have since made big loud statements to that effect, that we MUST CHANGE HUMAN BEHAVIOR TO STOP THIS b/c it is that new, that unknown. THE END.
Anastasia 4 years ago
100,000 Americans are killed or injured due to gun violence every year, yet it just continues. Much more preventable than a global pandemic..
Electric Ed 4 years ago
I dunno. Corona can be prevented by just wearing a mask and washing your hands and a bit of extra cleanliness. But getting the guns out of americans' hands... how would you do that?
Load More Replies... Thenatural 4 years ago
100000?...one hundred thousand?....you sure? Seems a bit much....how many of that number is homicide? How many suicide?
M O'Connell 4 years ago (edited)
The CDC bureau of vital statistics shows the following breakdown for deaths recorded in 2017: Accidental discharge of firearms: 486, Suicide by discharge of firearms: 23854, Homocide by discharge of firearms: 14542. These numbers do not include an indeterminate number of people who may have been killed indirectly by firearms. As far as injuries go, 32,046 emergency room visits occurred due to firearms related accidents (non-fatal). 47,834 visits were due to firearms incidents with violent intent.
Leah Helbig 4 years ago
So another airplane analogy for you. Imagine if every day for a year actually every year a jumbo jet with 400 people in it crashed killing everyone inside. Could you ignore that? But we do and have for years it's an analogy for how many Americans die every year from medical malpractice approx 250000. That would make it the 3rd leading cause of death in the USA but its not reported as such. So you can probably take a high percentage of those covid deaths and attribute medical malpractice for them. I promise you I have been a medical provider for over 13 years. I have seen and experienced so blatant errors that are not acceptable and could've easily been avoided. Doctors don't always know what they are doing thats why its called practice.
Stannous Flouride 4 years ago
It was estimated fairly early on that if the leaders of the US & UK had taken it seriously and acted just SEVEN DAYS earlier the number of deaths would have been cut by 40% to 60%. (the variables are based on the best possible actions vs. the worst) So roughly half of those 2 nations' deaths can be directly blamed on DJ tRump and Boris Johnson.
El Dee 4 years ago
As bad as things are in the US (and they are indeed awful) and as poorly as President Trump has dealt with it you should know that things are much, MUCH worse in the UK. Higher infection rates and higher death rates. The UK has the second highest Case Fatality Rate (with 14.8% of those infected dying) after Yemen (country in the middle of a civil war) and the third worst in deaths per 100,000. The US is ranked 55th for CFR with 3.2% of the infected dying. The UK's deaths per hundred thousand are 70.37 ranking it third worst in the world and the US ranks 10th with 50.75. So, as bad as things are we should wonder why Boris Johnson is being 'let off the hook' while Trump gets such a hard time (rightly so)
sneakcollector 4 years ago
It is what it is, Donald said. He cares a s**t for America or Americans.
Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago
Substitute “fell off the end of the [flat] earth” for “crashing” or “falling out of the sky”, and you’d reach the largest number of drumpf supporters.
Dawn Murphy 4 years ago
So tired of the fear mongering for the past 6 months... No doubt this is a virus, no doubt that it will be around for years and years as it mutates and new strains are discovered. It is here people. It has been here for a while. Not a damn thing going to change that fact. If you are immune compromised, then you should be protecting yourself, just like you would with any other airborne virus. Simple as that. Remember the flu vaccine that was suppose to "prevent the flu"...how many different ones have they "created" and yet it is still here and killing people. How about we talk about something we can cure....Over 50,000 people die each month from cancer.... equivalent to OVER 200,000 in four months. This has been for the past several years. Where is the outrage and demand for a CURE?
Andrew P Jump 4 years ago
Except in this analogy, the Chinese government are shooting down the planes.
Diver Driver 4 years ago (edited)
Dumb analogy. 2.5% of the population of the US test positive for CV-19. of that Less than 6% of those succumb with the CV-19 present. Only 2 million folks fly in a year.... well not quite as much this year. Do the math. That would be a 6.3% fatality rate. Covid is a .0015% mortality rate
Tim Bijlsma 4 years ago
Its horrible but it's a big continent. If you compare it to other countries it's almost the same just a bigger number.
N G 4 years ago
The difference is that other countries are getting the virus outbreaks under control. The US government hasn't done enough to reduce the spread and 100,000s will die
Load More Replies... nunya dam 4 years ago
interesting analogy, i just wonder where it is every year when we lose between 150000 and 190000 people to the seasonal flu. We do not even have a covid-19 test. All we can test for is coronavirus which is everything from the common cold to pneumonia. dont believe me? easy enough to research. People on here need to get over their TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) and wake up!
M O'Connell 4 years ago
There would be no point in having a "COVID-19" test because COVID-19 is simply the symptomology of the disease caused by the SARs-CoV-2 virus. The virus is what is being tested for. There is significant confusion in terminology among the general public because it is rather complicated. Results from the Influenza/SARS-CoV-2 Multiplex Assay are not simply positive/negative, they WILL tell you which virus you have tested positive for. Influenza A & B are not being added to positive SARS-CoV-2 results. This is superior to the previous method (the 2019-nCoV Real-Time Reverse Transcriptase (RT)–PCR Diagnostic Panel) which required a separate influenza test to be run. My research involved resources from the CDC, and the FDA. How about yours?
Load More Replies... M O'Connell 4 years ago
If you continue to doubt me, please refer to the FDA authorized instructions for use for the Influenza/SARS-CoV-2 Multiplex Assay found here: https://www.fda.gov/media/139743/download Page 28 contains the test result interpretation grid.
Anony Mouse 4 years ago
So basically a lot of the airplane passengers were old anyway, so it's not as bad? Interesting logic.
Load More Replies... 
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