According to HIV/AIDS Epidemic Global Statistics, AIDS-related deaths have been reduced by 68% since the peak in 2004. In 2021, around 650,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses worldwide, compared to 2 million people in 2004 and 1.4 million in 2010.
In comparison, reports from Wikipedia indicated a total count of 6,869,759[4] (updated 26 February 2023) confirmed COVID-induced deaths have been reported worldwide. As of January 2023, taking into account likely COVID induced deaths via excess deaths, the 95% confidence interval suggests the pandemic to have caused between 16 and 28.2 million deaths.[5][6]
A December 2022 WHO study comprehensively estimated excess deaths from the pandemic during 2020 and 2021, concluding ~14.8 million excess early deaths occurred, reaffirming their prior calculations from May as well as updating them, addressing criticisms. These numbers do not include measures like years of potential life lost, far exceeding the 5.42 million officially reported deaths for that timeframe, may make the pandemic 2021’s leading cause of death, and are similar to the ~18 million estimated by another study (see below).
Historically, only the 1918 flu pandemic,[6] also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer of the Spanish flu, can be comparable to the Covid-19. 1918 flu pandemic was caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was March 1918 in Kansas, United States, with further cases recorded in France, Germany and the United Kingdom in April. Two years later, nearly a third of the global population, or an estimated 500 million people, had been infected in four successive waves. Estimates of deaths range from 17 million to 50 million,[7] and possibly as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history.
Other similar events in history was the Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague)[a] was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causing the deaths of 75–200 million people,[1] peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351.[2][3] Bubonic plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis spread by fleas, but during the Black Death it probably also took a secondary form, spread by person-to-person contact via aerosols causing septicaemic or pneumonic plagues.[4][5]
Today many people in United States had received second, and even third boost shot of vaccination without knowing the long term side effects. Now fourth year into the pandemic, Are we out of the wood yet? We never know. Bitter arguments bickering on where the source of covid-19 came from, We can never be sure from the he-say, sher say. But we all know Covid-19 is a manifestation of the decades long intense contention and huge discord on numerous global social political issues. Looking back, the end of Spanish flu did not clear away anger and bitterness and the social, economic, political tension. the symptoms may temporarily disappear, but the underneath rotten wound has not recover.
The pandemic posts questions like what the meaning and purpose of life? How can we live a more meaningful life given it is so vulnerable? How is our body and mind functions holistically? How is the place of busy hustle bustle way of modern life How shall we arrange our education and medical system to be more meaningful, effective and inclusive in promoting those notions/understandings? How can we empower people for self help to take care of their health and their life?
The pandemic prompts us to think about our relationship with other humans, other races, other nations. And what is our relationship with nature? – the air, the water, the forest? the underground oil? Coal Energy? Nuclear energy? Who owns what? Individual property right? How do we relatively more fairly and evenly spread distribute the risk and cost of pollution over the society/nations? How to calculate pollution cost? How do we charge taxes? How to incorporate environment cost into our calculation of production cost? What is our relationship with this world? Who is to responsible for the ocean pollution, the climate change?
The pandemic forces us to took a intense look at our economy and the way we make livings: Can the consumerism sustain our living? Will the Earth resources support our insatiable for more? What would be a proper way or production and living? How does the large scale production and industrialization astray the society from true life meaning and purpose other than profits for the capitalist? Does the one size fit all globalization and supply chain truly good for majority of the people? Does the unrestrained capital free flow serve justice and fairness? What gives currency its value? Can we continue printing money out of debt?
The pandemic challenges us to think about norms and customs that make up a functional society: what is the right social order? How can we protect family and thus create a loving-kindness environment for disadvantaged and still encourage them to grow into better person ? How can our law and citizen education foster conscience and righteousness?
The pandemic also questions if some our Constitution clauses as well as laws in line with Divine principle? What is more functional structure and system for promoting social mobility and manage accountability? What is the accountability of government? What is the power limit of government officials? Where is the proper individual rights? How can we give proper consideration for all/group and while also integrate individuality (not individualism)? What make Americans think we are superior to other cultures socially and politically? What give American the justification to export our individualist culture to the rest of world and demand other country and culture to convert to our way of governance?
…… and many more questions like that certain are the undercurrents that flowing beneath the virus polluted social political and military atmosphere. How we answer those questions will determine the future of our civilization.
We live in an imperfect world. But it does not mean we should not strive for a better world for each other and for our future generation, think of how the American founding fathers influence the later generation by the rational thinking, law, ethic standard, culture framework. When we think in term of “me” versus “you”, when we regard nature as something to exploit resources from, when our system is built on any variation of colonialism, rather than to partner with; when our happiness is built on having more materially, we will inevitably collide into each other.
…. To be continued