Tell that to the loved ones of those that have died because it, or the tens of thousands still suffering the after effects after surviving it.
There is nothing overblown with the virus, only the more sensational ways of reporting it in some of the media.

A few things to consider...1) There is a lag in reported deaths that can take several weeks to catch up and 2) It is always good to look at more than one source. Here is a recent report in Forbes magazine which shows a different take. The source of the graph is JAMA.

How Excess Mortality In 2020 Compares [Infographic]

Finally, here is a graphic approach to explaining why masks are important.

So, the moral of the story is to wear pants and you won't catch the virus, right? :1rotfl: :1rotfl:

How about this:
A naked man approaches you with the intention of peeing on you.
You are armed with a gun and pull it out.
That's better protection than a pair of pants, but a pair of pants may keep you from getting splashed on if he has gotten too close and pees because you scared the pee out of him.

Protect yourself and let everyone else worry about protecting themselves. :MOJE_whot: :MOJE_whot:

That is the weakest possible response. 650,000 people in the US die from heart disease every year. Is that on the news 24/7? Where is the outrage? There has been no appreciable increase in deaths in the US during this pandemic. So yes, it is overblown. It has received a disproportionate amount of media coverage and fear mongering.

If something can be used politically it will be and this is no exception, finding stats to support any position is done all the time , so called "news" reporting is a challenge in critical thinking and researching what was said, just believe what ever "facts" suites your closest held beliefs

....and a big dose of mass hysteria...:shocked:

I don't understand why some people have a need to try to convince all of us that Covid is nothing to worry about.

The second post in this thread is definately worth reading. A few weeks ago I tried to do some research on my own to see if I could tell just how deadly the virus was. In other words, just how many deaths above and beyond normal have we had. It is much too complicated for me to come up with the answer - partly because of the items called out in post #2.

It is a two way street there Marathon Man. Just as many trying to convince others that it is something to worry about. In today’s order on line economy, there is no need for you to leave your house. You can get most anything delivered right to your door, including a new car! The science has been all over the place in this from the beginning. had their message been consistent from the beginning it might be a different story. Perhaps, if we face this again, we will be better equipped.

In the next few years there will be an uptick in deaths, not related to Covid, but to cancer. Many people are not going to the doctor, and screenings are at an all time low. Not to mention the amount of cardiac issues that will go undetected

The very numbers that I cited in my OP came from the same link that was listed in post #2. It provides you the death rate per 1,000 per year. Each of the last 5 years there has been a nominal increase in the death rate. The increase from 2019 to 2020 was less than the increase in any of the prior 5 years. Where are the 220,000 Covid deaths? If Covid killed 220,000 Americans, there would have been a surge in the numbers not a decline. Basically, percentage wise, there was no increase in the death rate. So although 220,000 people were listed as Covid deaths. The number of actual Covid deaths is far less. The vast majority of those coded as Covid deaths died from complications from other issues. Since the number did not spike, it appears that the majority of those people would have died with or without Covid. You can look for yourself, it’s all there statistically on the very website you mentioned.

Last I checked, heart disease is not contagious.

Armed with gun? Depends on how fast he can pull it out and if he has prostrate problems :duck:

More than 60 million Americans were infected with the H1N1 virus in the 12 month period 4/09-4/10. Yet there wasn’t a fraction of the media coverage that Covid has received. The CDC has reported that only 6% of all Covid coded deaths didn’t involve a comorbidity. Based on those numbers, H1N1 was actually more deadly. Where was the 24/7 news coverage?

Awesome, great reporting job. Now do "permanent lung damage and other debilitating, life-altering illness cases as a result of COVID-19." And compare that with all of those same illnesses as a result of "not COVID-19," for the past 5 years.