One death is a tragedy, one million a statistic

@ClevelandSharts

Replying to 

@DrOakley1689

So then what? I suppose the Holocaust wasn't that bad in comparison, because only 6,000,000 died... I mean, 56,000,000 people die each year, so what's the fuss, right? COVID-19 is just getting started. R0>2, CFR 2% (assuming hospitals not overwhelmed). Where will it be in a year?

https://twitter.com/ClevelandSharts/status/1241180245526528003

This comment makes two points:

1. It's premature to make historical comparisons with other causes of death until COVID-19 has run its course. We don't know the final death toll. 

2. The first point is more ethical:

i) There are different ways to assess the significance of death. Not all deaths are morally equivalent. Death in a plane crash is not in the same moral category as mass murder, even if more people die in the plane crash. So the significance of death isn't a crass utilitarian calculation about comparative statistics.

ii) That said, when formulating public policy, it's legitimate to ask why we should prioritize COVID-19 while there are other causes of death with far higher fatalities, yet we don't take the same measures to lower those rates. Not to mention the collateral damage of lockdowns and mass house arrest in response to COVID-19. 

So contrasting the fatality rates from different causes of death isn't an inherently heartless, mechanical comparison, but raises issues of moral consistency, the allocation of resources, and the limits of social control.