4 ms·

In the US, roughly a million people died of covid during the pandemic. That's ~1 in 340 people, or roughly two Dunbar's numbers (150). Meaning that every 1 in 2

In the US, roughly a million people died of covid during the pandemic. That's ~1 in 340 people, or roughly two Dunbar's numbers (150). Meaning that every 1 in 2 people was 'close' to someone that died of covid. That plus the restrictions and all the other jazz. It was a lot. Personally, my family lost 5 due to covid. And we lost another 3 during the pandemic that we had to digitally mourn too[0]. The family is still not processing all of it very well, as a fair few members are still at very high risk and travel is still restricted for us. It's as if those years didn't really happen. Personally, I have a hard time remembering 2020-22. There are just gaps in my mind. I'm not the same person I was after it. My spending is a, to be honest, a bit more free now. There really is a sense of YOLO in my life. Not a very large sense, but a sense all the same. Seeing so many close family members die, sometimes at their bedside, it affected me. I know now, in some very small way, how short my life is. How precious it is, how frivolous it is. I'm personally still dealing with a lot of that memento mori. [0] I will forever hate zoom because of those horribly dumb, mismanaged, separated funerals. Fuck's sake, digital cruelty.

fifilura 3y ago
> That's ~1 in 340 To put that number in perspective, on a regular year around 1 in 150 die. 1 in 340 over 2-3 years is shocking for the individual of course, like every death, but not a huge offset from that number.
- Kranar 3y ago
  It's very hard to properly contextualize the number, however. For example it's true that the total number of deaths only increased by about 10-15% during COVID which is not trivial but also not a catastrophe either... however, you also can't really compare how people lived during COVID where everyone was isolated, to a typical year where people would be exposed to far more risks just naturally. You could imagine that if hypothetically everyone lived the way they lived in 2020-2022 with little travel, little outdoor exposure, deaths would likely plummet, and yet even with all those restrictions deaths increased by about 15%. It's very hard to get a sense of how much of a threat COVID posed since there's not much that it can be compared to.
  - JambalayaJim 3y ago
    A proper contextualization of the number must include how old the average covid victim was. In my neck of the woods at least, hospitalizations and deaths were heavily skewed towards those in their 70s and 80s respectively.
    - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
      Those numbers were about the same throughout the USA: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7218a4.htm https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7218a4.htm For example, in 2021, 95k died were 85+, 110k died were 75-84, another 110k from 65-74. But that rate of death for 85+ was 1.6%, and then .6% (75-84), .3% (65-74), .1% (55-64), .09% (45-54), .03% (45-54).
- Balgair 3y ago
  oh, guess I shouldn't be sad then
  - fifilura 3y ago
    I am sorry for your loss, it must have been a horrible year.
jncfhnb 3y ago
You cannot apply that analysis because the deaths were not randomly sampled. They were hyper concentrated on certain demographics that also largely separate social networks. I would guess Most people did not lose someone close (for conservative definitions of “close”). Given that you did lose someone close, you probably lost more than one.
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  People in my family tend to die younger for other reasons (cancer, MS), so not many were old enough to be in that category of people who were most vulnerable to it. On the other hand, I knew people with lots of elderly relatives, and they knew and were close to more than a few who died.
- Balgair 3y ago
  yeah, 5

fifilura 3y ago

> That's ~1 in 340 To put that number in perspective, on a regular year around 1 in 150 die. 1 in 340 over 2-3 years is shocking for the individual of course, like every death, but not a huge offset from that number.

Kranar 3y ago
It's very hard to properly contextualize the number, however. For example it's true that the total number of deaths only increased by about 10-15% during COVID which is not trivial but also not a catastrophe either... however, you also can't really compare how people lived during COVID where everyone was isolated, to a typical year where people would be exposed to far more risks just naturally. You could imagine that if hypothetically everyone lived the way they lived in 2020-2022 with little travel, little outdoor exposure, deaths would likely plummet, and yet even with all those restrictions deaths increased by about 15%. It's very hard to get a sense of how much of a threat COVID posed since there's not much that it can be compared to.
- JambalayaJim 3y ago
  A proper contextualization of the number must include how old the average covid victim was. In my neck of the woods at least, hospitalizations and deaths were heavily skewed towards those in their 70s and 80s respectively.
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    Those numbers were about the same throughout the USA: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7218a4.htm https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7218a4.htm For example, in 2021, 95k died were 85+, 110k died were 75-84, another 110k from 65-74. But that rate of death for 85+ was 1.6%, and then .6% (75-84), .3% (65-74), .1% (55-64), .09% (45-54), .03% (45-54).
Balgair 3y ago
oh, guess I shouldn't be sad then
- fifilura 3y ago
  I am sorry for your loss, it must have been a horrible year.

jncfhnb 3y ago

You cannot apply that analysis because the deaths were not randomly sampled. They were hyper concentrated on certain demographics that also largely separate social networks. I would guess Most people did not lose someone close (for conservative definitions of “close”). Given that you did lose someone close, you probably lost more than one.

seanmcdirmid 3y ago
People in my family tend to die younger for other reasons (cancer, MS), so not many were old enough to be in that category of people who were most vulnerable to it. On the other hand, I knew people with lots of elderly relatives, and they knew and were close to more than a few who died.
Balgair 3y ago
yeah, 5