Buzz
While the flu can be fatal, COVID-19 has proven to be much deadlier. Deaths from suicide, drug overdoses, heart disease, and various other causes are also significant. If your community has seen few COVID-19 fatalities, you might mistakenly equate its danger to that of the flu, which many don’t fear.
However, this chart demonstrates otherwise. Play the animation to see a ranked list of familiar causes of death. These are not the leading global causes; cardiovascular disease and cancer claim far more lives. Yet, by the end of the animation, COVID-19 surpasses many of these causes.
The chart begins in early 2020, with COVID-19 appearing at the bottom by February 8, surpassing deaths from natural disasters. It remains there until March 16, when it starts climbing. By March 30, it exceeds diarrheal diseases and war. On April 11, it surpasses homicide. By late April, it overtakes malaria, and by May 15, global COVID-19 deaths exceed those from suicide.
As the chart’s creator points out, these causes collectively account for just 7% of global deaths. However, the animation illustrates how rapidly the coronavirus surpassed these other causes. The virus continues to spread globally, with 60% of reported cases occurring in the past month, indicating no signs of slowing down. Sadly, we are far from the finish line. The situation is expected to worsen.
