Deaths are imminent

Sandip Gyawali
May 25, 2020
sandip gyawali

“Death never comes at the right time, despite what mortals believe. Death always comes like a thief”, Christopher Pike’s famous quote in The Last Vampire reminds us about a bitter fact – which we always try to neglect. We never expected the last month of 2019 would be uncanny for humanity. Since the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 began, it has hurled pain and suffering towards humanity. Sudden deaths began to rise and terror of the deadly virus has impacted throughout the world. People have now developed fear; a fear of unexpected death. Is the rising fear of the virus: a threat to humanity or due to the terrorizing presentation of media? Let’s explore.

COVID-19 deaths are now a major problem, but everybody who is infected with the deadly virus does not die. Current statistics present an overall fatality rate of about 3%, a WHO estimate says. Whereas, according to the John Hopkins University, Belgium has the highest mortality rate of 16% in the world due to COVID-19. Likewise, America, the U.K., France, Italy, and Spain have 6%, 14.2%, 15.5%, 14.3%, and 12.2% respectively. These data explain to us – humanity will not end soon due to COVID-19.

Nowadays, the media has emphasized COVID-19 too much that other diseases and problems are now going out of the limelight. People in the world have other problems too. People die due to other diseases also. According to Visual Capitalist (the 2017 projected scientific data extracted from Our World in Data – an open-access information website) nearly 150,000 deaths are witnessed around the globe daily. Similarly, 56 million people died in the same year. About 48,742 people die daily and 17.79 million die yearly because of Cardiovascular disease. But the media remembers this problem only on September 29 as World Heart Day. Similarly, cancer causes 26,181 deaths daily and 3.91 million people yearly. But Cardiovascular disease and Cancer do not generate the same degree of “fear” among us which COVID-19 is generating these days.

Compared to these two aforementioned diseases, the highest daily death toll of COVID-19 is 10,520, till now. Conferring to John Hopkins University’s information tally 345,296 people have died in more than five months. A total number of 5,424,718 people have been infected and 2,176,490 have been recovered from COVID-19. By studying the data this novel disease seems less fatal than other major deadly diseases. Although deaths cannot be predicted, America projects a total number of 143,357 deaths by August. Even though, American projection seems less relatable for the world’s death statistics, in some way Scientists over the world can calculate the global death projections by studying this model. Here, in the latest 2017 data gathered by Scientists, we can comprehend the numbers and causes of death before the Pandemic.

Though world mortality seems to have increased suddenly, some Scientists believe countries are labeling the deaths of other diseases as COVID-19 deaths. In Scientific American, Dr. Jeremy Faust, an American Physician explains the confusion of labeling of the deaths by saying “The challenge is knowing who died of COVID-19 versus who died with the virus that causes COVID-19”. So, some evidence reflects, the actual deaths could be below. The representation of deaths in the media as groundbreaking news can only be partially true. The extensive fear of SARS-Cov-2 among people is somehow created by the media. News headlines are filled with COVID-19 news. Nowadays, we barely see other news on television. The media is petrifying innocents. We are forgetting other causes of deaths because of ill reporting. Purushottam P. Khatri of The Rising Nepal writes, “90 people [had] lost their lives … due to lightning in Nepal [in a single year]”. Are these deaths petty? Don’t these lives matter? These deaths are not humanely drawing our attention because of the media.

  • We do not choose to die; we die because it is imminent.

“A small fact: You are going to die…. does this worry you?” Markus Zusak’s quote in The Book Thief might bring us to reality. No matter what, deaths are imminent—COVID-19 deaths too. Based on the facts, daily more than 2600 people die (Our World in Data) only because of AIDS—which we believe is less fatal through medications. Then why should people become absurd? People have to break the absurdness; people have to break the chains of fear developed by media about COVID-19. Media should flow positive news which can help people eliminate fear. And, another thing, the focus upon vaccines as our final hope is merely creating false hope, because if they are made, they will not be accessible to everyone at once.

One thing we should have to learn as Mantra –

  • we cannot escape the virus; we have to learn to live with it.

Statistically, more people will recover and fewer people will die, no matter how we try. Maintaining physical distancing, sanitation, and boosting immunity through exercise and a balanced diet will help to lessen the risk of this pandemic. People can beat COVID-19 by washing their hands, drinking a lot of fluids, and following proper guidelines of WHO. Though, for the elderly and those with underlying health conditions, COVID-19 is/will be challenging. But with a strong mental well-being, prepared health system, and regulated drugs we can beat COVID-19.

(The writer can be contacted at [email protected])