Coronavirus spreads. But don't panic! (topical thread)

[skyking]

... a friend guessed 5% of USians have died from Covid-19 because of all the news ...

We have our dreadful national numeric illiteracy to thank for that - one of the reasons Casinos and lotteries are booming enterprises.  Cap that with the unconscious but persistent "intuition" that the news presents the world the way it is when exactly the opposite is the case - news is the way the world ISN'T, which is why it's news.

Numeric illiteracy leads one to think "5%" is "about right" without thinking that through:  that's 1 in 20 people.  That means in your circle of acquaintance 1 of every 20 is a COVID-19 corpse.  That's clearly WAY off - as the math actually shows, it's about 2/3 of a person out of 100.

Which is pretty HIGH when compared to deaths from other causes, but we aren't dropping like gassed flies from all the causes combined, we manage to exist most of a century before expiring.

2/3rds of a person out of a 1000