Some people like to question whether this pandemic is really all that bad in terms of deaths. So @jeremyfaust @CarlosdelRio7 et al crunched the numbers and turns out: It’s 70% as deadly.

And that’s with all the modern meds & tools at our disposal. /1 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/health/coronavirus-flu-new-york.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/1...

The researchers compared NYC in March and April with the city in Oct and Nov 1918, the peaks of each pandemic. Compared to previous years, 1918 had fewer than 3x excess deaths. Compared to previous years, 2020 has more than 4x excess. /2

Life was pretty dangerous in 1918 for other reasons, but Covid-19 has made it much more so for us in 2020. I really loved reporting this story, despite the bleak topic, because it was a wonderful chance to speak with historians. /3

For eg, @howardmarkel told me that there was a vaccine in 1918, but it was against a bacterium called Haemophilus Infelunzae, and not the flu virus.!! /4

HUGE thanks to @jeremyfaust Nancy Tomes, @HowardMarkel @EricTopol, J.Anthony Navarro https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/health/coronavirus-flu-new-york.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/1...