Is this really a "pandemic" or just a lot of over reaction?

@Quizzical The last real pandemic was in 1918 - 1919 and this looks nothing like it.

@justbob This is just the start. Give it a month !

@Picklebobble2 It has been three months

@justbob https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-51994675

@justbob 1957 and 1968 were pandemics but this one appears to be killing few compared to other viral infections including seasonal flu.

Fear kills too😮

@justbob Pandemic doesn't refer to the strength or virulence of a disease. It refers to it's spread.

Pan (many) demic (people or population)

So given that this virus has been seen on all populated continents and given the number of sufferers it certainly qualifies.

@Quizzical Yes. I know what the word means. Now compare the number of cases and rate of spread to the "Spanish flu" and perhaps you will see my point more clearly.

@justbob One pandemic may be worse than another but they are still both pandemics.

You can be shot in the head, or in the leg. One is more likely to kill you, but they are still both gunshot wounds 🤷‍♂️

@justbob A commonly accepted timeline https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC340389/ is that 1918 pandemic influenza started in Kansas in January. Most deaths didn't occur until mid-September to December, which is consistent with what one would expect with exponentially growing infection.

The 1918 pandemic is, matter of fact, dwarfed by spread of COVID19 so far, though this can be largely attributed to way higher population and freedom, speed and amount of travel.