Trump’s plan calls for protecting vulnerable age cohorts while letting the less vulnerable get back to work. The two charts below demonstrate why opposition to this proposal borders on the insane.
The first chart is from CDC’s website showing COVID-19 deaths by age cohort as of April 17. The total is only 13,130, because CDC is behind in sorting this data. According to Worldmeter, total US deaths as of April 17 are 37,230. The second chart assumes the rates stay the same as the data is compiled (and I see no reason we should not assume that). Then I calculate total deaths as of today by age cohort.
One number should jump out at you. 3,315. That is the total number of deaths in the three months since the beginning of the pandemic among people under 55. In a country with a population of 327,167,434, that is .001%. That is 1 one thousandth of a percent.
Fact: The overwhelming majority of deaths are among the elderly.
Fact: The overwhelming majority of deaths are among those with serious preexisting conditions.
Fact: The government response is to treat young healthy people with practically zero risk of death the same as sick, elderly people.
The third fact needs to end, and that is the administration’s plan. You don’t shut the county down over a 1 one thousandth of a percent risk.
