The U.S. has now reached a daily number of Covid-19 deaths that is greater than 2X the daily rate of deaths from vehicle accidents

by JPAnalyst

Source for influenza and vehicle deaths from the CDC. Data is from 2017 totals divided by 365.

COVID deaths from covidtracking.com

Data viz in Excel.

I have been hearing comparisons from people that car accidents are 35k a year and the flu is 50k a year and using this data to justify that there is an overreaction to 1,000 Covid-19 deaths.

It’s a bad comparison because of at least two reasons.

1. ⁠Car deaths and Flu deaths are relatively stagnant, and Covid has a high growth rate (for now).
2. ⁠Another reason it’s a bad comparison is that the data compares an entire year for cars and flu to just a couple of months of Covid-19.

I’m not here to say what we should do and how we should balance social distancing vs the economy. I’m also not predicting where Covid deaths are headed and when it will stop. I’m just pointing out that I think using car deaths and flu deaths as an example to minimize Covid deaths is a flawed and disingenuous argument.