Comment by CaptWillard
10 days ago
> It does not include cases like someone dying in a car crash who happened to be COVID-positive.
Maybe not, but it definitely includes millions of elderly or otherwise comorbid subjects who developed pneumonia and never recovered. Sad is it is, that happens year-in and year-out when the initial virus doesn't have a household name.
It also happens with the influenza virus ... except 2020 and 2021, where we had a miraculous reprieve from flu deaths.
> where we had a miraculous reprieve from flu deaths
It's not so miraculous to think that lockdowns, distancing and mask-wearing affected flu prevalence as well as COVID prevalence.
Methods used to combat COVID-19 (social distancing, masking, moving indoor events outdoors) really are quite effective at reducing the transmission of respiratory viruses. Big changes can come about from small changes in r.