The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has dominated news coverage the last month on television, radio, and the Internet. But much other news is worth coverage too:
The Presidential Campaign
Perhaps the top news story in the U.S. other than COVID-19 is the Presidential election campaign between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Locusts in Africa
A huge plague of locusts that may be “20 times worse than” the one a couple of months ago that generated news headlines for days threatens the eastern part of Africa according to a Guardian article [1] and other sources.
Wars
Numerous wars continue around the world. WarsintheWorld [2] provides a lengthy “List of ongoing Conflicts” on its website. In normal times, the numerous conflicts would garner much more news coverage.
Global Warming
A recent USA Today [3] article cites scientists as stating “that 2020 has nearly a 75% chance of being the warmest year on record for” Earth. Perhaps the key words are “on record,” since before recorded history Earth was typically much warmer than it is now. However, if not for COVID-19 coverage, these scientists’ statement would have garnered much more news coverage.
Federal Budget Deficit
Even among conservatives, few persons are complaining about the federal budget deficit now. But it is going to be huge.
In an April 13th article, The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget [4] projected a budget deficit of “more than $3.8 trillion (18.7 percent of GDP) this year.” It appears that our federal budget deficit this year will be the worst since the World War II period of the 1940s, when considered in relation to the size of the economy.
Other News
Numerous other news stories have occurred in recent months that would have garnered much more attention if not for COVID-19. These include weather-related phenomena such as drought, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, etc. They also include more allegations of sexual abuses. And lots of other stories are out there too, probably including many that I’ve never heard or read about.
COVID-19 Is Only One Cause of Death
Finally, despite the news headlines COVID-19 deaths attract, the majority of the persons who die each day in the United States die from something else (heart disease, cancer, stroke, accidents, suicide, etc.).
We pay relatively little attention to most deaths, which occur due to what I guess could be called the typical causes. Furthermore, even persons who die partially due to COVID-19 typically have other contributing factors such as age, diabetes, lung disease of some type, etc.
Still, COVID-19 may be the leading single contributing cause of death in the United States this week. Last week, April 6th-12, COVID-19 may have been a close #2 behind heart disease according to a Washington Post analysis [5] of data. Furthermore, there may be many who die of causes related to COVID-19 who were never tested, thus don’t have COVID-19 listed as a cause of death.
But, while accurate data may be virtually impossible to obtain, Statista.com’s analysis [6] of some available data indicates the death rate per capita from COVID-19 in the United States is 9th among 134 countries whose data they analyzed. Most countries seem to have far fewer deaths per capita from COVID-19. Let’s not get so obsessed with one cause of death that we neglect all the others.
But, while accurate data may be virtually impossible to obtain, Statista.com’s analysis [6] of some available data indicates the death rate per capita from COVID-19 in the United States is 9th among 134 countries whose data they analyzed. Most countries seem to have far fewer deaths per capita from COVID-19. Let’s not get so obsessed with one cause of death that we neglect all the others.
ENDNOTES:
1 Samuel Okiror; “Second wave of locusts in east Africa said to be 20 times worse”; The Guardian; April 13th, 2020; webpage accessed April 19, 2020; https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/apr/13/second-wave-of-locusts-in-east-africa-said-to-be-20-times-worse
2 “List of ongoing Conflicts”; WarsintheWorld; updated April 11, 2020; webpage accessed April 19, 2020; https://www.warsintheworld.com/?page=static1258254223
3 Doyle Rice; “2020 expected to be Earth’s warmest year on record, scientists say”; USA Today; April 16, 2020; webpage accessed April 19th, 2020; https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/04/16/global-warming-2020-expected-warmest-year-record-noaa-said/5144767002/
4 “New Projections: Debt Will Exceed the Size of the Economy This Year”; CRFB.org; April 13th, 2020; webpage accessed April 19th, 2020; http://www.crfb.org/blogs/new-projections-debt-will-exceed-size-economy-year
5 Dan Keating and Chiqui Esteban; “Covid-19 is rapidly becoming America’s leading cause of death”; Washington Post; April 16th, 2020; webpage accessed April 19th, 2020; https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/04/16/coronavirus-leading-cause-death/?arc404=true
6 Raynor de Best; “COVID-19 deaths worldwide per one million population as of April 19, 2020, by country”; Statista; April 19th, 2020; webpage accessed April 19th, 2020; https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-milliion-inhabitants/
NOTE:
This article being submitted to Google Blogger on April 19th, 2020 is virtually identical to one the author submitted earlier the same day to Craft News Report, a website operated by his friend Paul Craft.
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