The coronavirus has now killed more Americans than the 9/11 terror attacks.
Public health officials and state and city officials throughout America tell us we should brace ourselves for the death toll to rise significantly in April and May.
Maybe America should start taking biosecurity seriously, writes Alex Ward at Vox today.
Nearly 3,000 people died after terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and a third plane that had been hijacked crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on 9/11. According to tallies by both CNN and the New York Times, over 3,000 people in the US infected with Covid-19 have died.
It is, of course, not a neat comparison. Those who perished on 9/11 died instantly or soon thereafter, though many first responders suffered major complications in the subsequent years. Meanwhile, the death toll from the coronavirus has risen since January and has grown substantially in the past few weeks.
Top health officials in the US government, like Dr. Anthony Fauci, predicted on Sunday between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths in the country before the crisis subsides. Dr. Deborah Birx, another medical professional leading the American response, said the following day that Fauci’s figures could pan out even “if we do things almost perfectly.”
[O]ne parallel between the coronavirus crisis and 9/11 is that, so far, New York City has borne the brunt of two of the worst crises in recent American history. Steven Kassapidis, an intensive care unit doctor in the city, told the Guardian last week that “9/11 was nothing compared to this.” Current conditions are “Hell. Biblical,” he continued. With regard to 9/11, he said, “We were waiting for patients to come who never came, okay? Now, they just keep coming.”
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The coronavirus has now killed more Americans than the 9/11 terror attacks