I am sick (not literally) and tired (quite literally) of hearing people say that the deaths from COVID-19 are not large enough to justify the stay-at-home orders. I am fed up with people being so blase about the death toll in the US alone, much less the rest of the world.
As of today, April 30,2020, there have been 63,538 deaths in the USA, with roughly 2000 of those deaths occurring today. Globally, there have been 230,804 deaths, with 3,400 of those deaths happening today. Numbers of deaths remain abstractions until we put names to numbers, until we compare. Let me make some comparisons.
In my own life, I identify strongly with three places: my county of origin, Atascosa Co., Texas, the University of Texas at Austin, my alma mater and San Antonio, Texas, the nearest large city that I visited as a child.
As of today, there have been 1,092,328 cases of COVID-19 in the United States. Globally, there have been 3.2 million cases. The city of San Antonio, Texas has a population of 1.5 million people. San Antonio is the 7th largest city in the U.S. This virus has infected the numerical equivalent of a large U.S. city. Is that not enough?
Now let’s take a look at the deaths. Deaths in the United states are at 63,000. My county of origin, Atascosa County, Texas, has a population of roughly 49,000. The University of Texas at Austin, enrolls 50,000 students. It’s the 7th largest public university in the country. Corona deaths have taken out the equivalent of a rural Texas county or a large public university. Is that not enough?
By the way, the cities in my county of origin range in population of 2,000-10,000 people. At the current rate of deaths in the U.S., it’s like one small town is dying off per day. Is that not enough?
I say enough is enough. We think of numbers as mere data, cold, hard and impersonal, but these figures get very personal when you compare them to what and who you know, where you came from and where you are. Let’s stay at home, stay well, stay alive and come out safer and stronger with as many members of our communities alive and kicking as possible.
Kristin West 