Big numbers are hard to digest. So evaluating the true effect of the coronavirus might be difficult, too. After all, what do tens of thousands of deaths really mean in the context of a nation? The world? A lot, actually.
To put into perspective the lives COVID-19 has claimed in the United States, Facebook user Joanne Faulkner Pasmore shared an analogy. Pasmore invited everyone to look at them as if they were lost in plane crashes. Granted, she did it in July when the death toll was smaller, but the argument remains the same.
In a recent interview with Australian journalist Jonathan Swan, President Trump looked at the numbers and said the situation in the US was "under control".
"It is what it is," Trump added after being pressured, justifying his position with the phrase "We're lower than the world."
However, the US isn't "lower than the world." As of this article, 173,716 people have died in the country from the virus, which equates to 524 deaths per 1 million people. The global average is 99.8.
Here's what people said after reading the analogy
