Putting the Corona Virus (Covid-19) Deaths into Perspective

April 1 2020:  This is NO April Fool’s joke.  The planet is in lock down as we battle the spread of the corona virus and try to minimize the spread of this disease.  Very few people saw this coming and there has been a lot of discussion about why this virus became a pandemic so quickly.  Lots of misinformation provided on the internet and it is difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction.  Time will tell which of the “conspiracy theories” are in fact “accurate information”.

In the meantime, I think it is important to put the number of cases and the deaths from Covid-19 into perspective.

Live information is provided on Worldometers.info.  I just accessed it at 11 pm (EST) on April 1st, 2020 and this is the latest information from worldometer for the globe.

Total Deaths this year = 14,810,426
Total Deaths due to the following causes (percent of total deaths).

1. communicable diseases  –  3,268,793 (22%)
2. hunger  –  2,816,117 (19%)
3. cancer   –  2,068,012  (14%)
4. smoking  – 1,258,755 (8.5%)
5. HIV/Aids  –  423,291 (2.9%)
6. traffic accidents  –  339,904 (2.3%)
7. malaria  –  246,986 (1.7%)
8. water related diseases  –  212,043 (1.4%)
9. seasonal flu  –  122,424 (0.8%)
10. covid-19  –  47,245 (0.3%)

More people died from the seasonal  flu than from covid-19 so far this year!  If we truly cared about lives then tackling hunger would be a good place to put our efforts.  When it comes to diseases,  more people died from HIV/Aids, malaria and water related diseases than from covid-19.

More information from worldometer follows …

Covid-19  [# per 100,000 global population]

1.  Total Cases (Covid-19) – 935,197   [120 per 100,000 global population]
2.  Total Deaths (Covid-19) – 47, 245 (5%)   [0.61 per 100,000 global population]
3. Currently infected with Covid-19 – 694,426 people  [8.9 per 100,000 global population]
4.  Mild Condition (Covid-19) – 658, 816 (95%)   [8.4 per 100,000 global population]
5. Serious or Critical (Covid-19) – 35,610 (5%)  [0.46 per 100,000 global population]
6. Cases with outcome (Covid-19) – 241,531  [0.003 per 100,000 global population]
7. Recovered/Discharged (Covid-19) – 194,286 (80%)  [2.5 per 100,000 global population]
8. Deaths (Covid-19) – 47, 245 (20%, based on #6 above)  [0.61 per 100,000 global population]

Now let’s compare these values with the following:

Population:  deaths and births this year

1.  Global population – 7,774,953,065 people
2.  Births this year – 35,277,706  [454 per 100,000 global population]
3. Deaths this year – 14,810,426  [190 per 100,000 global population]
4. Net population growth – 20,467,280  [263 per 100,000 global population]

Health

1.  Communicable disease deaths this year – 3,268,793  [42 per 100,000 global population]
2.  Seasonal flue deaths this year – 122,424  [1.6 per 100,000 global population]
3. Deaths of children under 5 this year – 1,913,943  [24 per 100,000 global population]
4. HIV/AIDS infected people – 41,681,244  [536 per 100,000 global population]
5. Deaths caused by HIV/AIDS this year – 423,291  [5.4 per 100,000 global population]
6. Deaths caused by cancer this year – 2,068,012  [27 per 100,000 global population]
7. Deaths caused by malaria this year – 246,986  [3.2 per 100,000 global population]
8. Deaths caused by smoking this year – 1,258,755  [16 per 100,000 global population]
9. Road traffic accident fatalities this year – 339,904  [4.4 per 100,000 global population]

Food

1.  Undernourished people in the world – 841,977,037  [10,829 per 100,000 global population]
2. Overweight people int he world – 1,691,229,913  [21,752 per 100,000 global population]
3. Obese people in the world – 753,571,172  [9,692 per 100,000 global population]
4. People who died of hunger this year – 2,816,117  [36 per 100,000 global population]

Water

1.  Deaths caused by water related diseases this year – 212,043  [2.7 per 100,000 global population]
2. People with no access to a safe drinking water source – 802,262,651  [10,319 per 100,000 global population]

Environment

1.  Toxic chemicals released in the environment this year (tons) – 2,465,889
2. Desertification this year (hectares) – 3,021,807
3. Land lost to soil erosion this year (hectares) – 1,763,051
4. Forest loss this year (hectares) – 1,309,582

Society & Media

1.  cellular phones sold this year – 592,856,269  [7.6% of the global population]
2. Money spent on video games this year – $26,618,730,912  [$3.42 per person]
3. Internet users in the world today – 4,519,452,931 [58% of the global population]
4. Emails sent this year – 23,920,620,712,884  [3076 per person]

Government & Economics

1.  Public Healthcare expenditures this year – $1,377,642,995,943  [$177 per person]
2. Public Education expenditures this year – $943,571,187,768  [$121 per person]
3. Public Military expenditures this year – $430,867,877,542  [$55 per person]
4. Cars produced this year – 19,726,401  [253 per 100,000 global population]
5. Bicycles produced this year – 37,865,021  [487 per 100,000 global population]
6. Computers produced this year – 63,266,218  [813 per 100,000 global population]

So what does all this mean?  Are we over-reacting to covid-19?  Why are we not reacting to the “other causes” of deaths in a similar fashion or perhaps in a more measured fashion?

It took decades for governments to ban smoking in public places despite ample scientific evidence that smoking kills.  It continues to kill and more people have died from smoking than from covid-19 this year.

People are dying from exposure to electrosmog and despite scientists and medical doctors and activists trying to delay the deployment of 5G (part of which includes mmwaves that have not been tested for long-term health effects) the government is moving ahead full speed.  What prompted governments around the world to act so quickly for covid-19 when they remain blind, deaf and dumb about the hazards of microwave radiation?

What disturbs me is that the telecom industry has been given the “all clear” to deploy 5G technology during this pandemic despite the fact that science shows that this microwave radiation causes cancer, affects sperm, and contributes to symptoms of electrohypersensitivity.

Beyond health effects of wireless technology we also have the potential for surveillance (facial recognition); addiction; anti-social behaviour; safety; security; and privacy issues.  This technology can and has been weaponized (active denial system).  Furthermore this radiation affects flora and fauna (birds, bees, cows, amphibians, etc.) and is contributing to massive amounts of energy consumption and thus contributing to climate change as well.