Pandemic? Let us get this straight!

pan·​dem·​ic | \ pan-ˈde-mik 

1: occurring over a wide geographic area (such as multiple countries or continents) and typically affecting a significant proportion of the population …pandemic malaria. The 1918 flu was pandemic and claimed millions of lives.

2: characterized by very widespread growth or extent : EPIDEMIC entry 1 sense 3a problem of pandemic (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pandemic)

 

What exactly does pandemic mean? Well, the foregoing is the definition according to www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/. Obviously, pandemic is more about geography and geographical area/s. We hear the word constantly these days because of the Covid-19 Coronavirus, but we should understand what it is we are really hearing, and what it really means. Often, we hear the mainstream media use words, and we tend to not pay close attention to the reasons why they use them. For examples, the usage of the word equity, and not the word equality in some contexts is done for specific reasons, although they sound similar.

Pandemic means it is global like headaches. Headaches tend to be universal, although they are rarely fatal. One thing I do believe may be true, if tested, is that if we asked many to choose between getting Covid-19 or Tuberculosis, they would probably pick the least lethal, immediately. Consequently, regardless of how much media tells you about how many cases there are, it is really lethality and not cases which would influence people in deciding. The headaches which were previously mentioned are obviously of minimal lethality. I highly doubt that geographical area would influence anyone's decision making, at least not primarily. To close my brief post, I want to point out that the lethal rate for Covid-19 seems to be around 1.8 % right now. That is according to some simple math we don’t seem to be getting from media. This is one of the reasons I believe this has been used for political purposes and agendas. I am done here, for now.

 

 

 

Reference:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pandemic