LETTER: Swine flu’s impact was minor compared to deadly Covid-19

To Ozaukee Press:

In a recent letter to the editor published in Ozaukee Press, Timothy J. Landing correctly pointed out that 60 million Americans were estimated to have been infected with swine flu in 2009-2010. What he failed to mention was that only about 12,500 people died. That’s one in 4,800 or 0.02%.  

In comparison, in 2019 about 35 million Americans got the flu, with about 35,000 deaths. That’s one in 1,000. That’s 0.1%, or nearly five times the death rate of swine flu.

Thus far, in but a few months, there have been roughly 5 million cases of Covid-19 and 170,000 thousand people have died.  That’s one in 29, or 3.4%, and 170 times the rate of the swine flu. And, it’s not over.

We all have a responsibility to help one another. I grew up on a dairy farm in rural Belgium, and if someone was standing around watching others do the work, my dad would yell, “Don’t just stand there, grab ahold of something.”

Gov. Tony Evers is not a king, as Mr. Landing described him in his letter, nor does he aspire to be. Like my dad, he understands the wisdom of helping out. If you don’t want to wear a mask or practice social distancing, you are free to do so. But along with this comes the label of “jerk.”        

 Stop standing around and grab ahold of something. Stop being a jerk and help out.  People are dying.

 John S. Strauss
Campton Hills, Ill.