At the same time, if 1-2% of the planet's population had died over the course of a day, with deaths more common among the old and unheard of in children, it wo

At the same time, if 1-2% of the planet's population had died over the course of a day, with deaths more common among the old and unheard of in children, it would be in the news for years - but life would have gone on with minimal interruption, and I think it would have been almost entirely forgotten within a few generations. It's only because there's a chance of stopping COVID that everyone cares so much.