Businessinsidercoza Covid-19 has now killed more Americans than the influenza pandemic of 1918-19
Getty Images.
Now that the US death toll from Covid-19 has surpassed 676,000, the coronavirus pandemic has killed more Americans than the 1918-19 influenza pandemic did.
Axios and the Associated Press both reported the grim milestone on Monday.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate the pandemic over 100 years ago killed 675,000 people, many of whom were younger than 65 years old.
Back then, there wasn't a flu shot to protect people from getting infected. Today, the FDA has authorised three Covid-19 vaccines, and 64% of Americans have received at least one dose.
In 1918, the US population was about 103 million. Today, it's more than 330 million.
So although the total number of Americans who died in each crisis is about the same, because of the population difference, influenza infected about one-quarter of Americans from 1918-19, and killed 0.65%.
More Americans died from the flu those years than died in World War I.
Today, Covid-19 has infected more than 12% of Americans and killed about 0.2%.
Both pandemics saw the impact of globalisation help the spread of the virus, though in different capacities.
During the influenza pandemic, World War I contributed to the spread of the virus, killing healthy young people in mass quantities without the aid of modern medicine. Now, airplane travel and mass migration both help contribute to the spread of Covid-19.
Get the best of our site emailed to you every weekday.Go to the Business Insider front page for more stories.
0 Response to "Businessinsidercoza Covid-19 has now killed more Americans than the influenza pandemic of 1918-19"
Post a Comment