And that’s why we are in so much trouble ( covid19)

I have to say that you have to look at cases per capita for an accurate representation. Graph might not look the same then especially as most of those numbers come from NY which is very dense. Not excusing our response, which has been shocking.

My experience is that people don't care. You can show them easy to understand graphics illustrating the situation and they still don't care. We're in trouble because people don't care.

1.) It's not real to them. They don't personally know anyone who is in the hospital or who has died from the virus. If it were really a crisis, surely they'd personally know someone who was affected, right? Strangers' stories are just anecdotes to them, and the case reports are just numbers. Positive tests are starting to be listed by town here. I have read accounts of people saying that the reports aren't "real". Because "this is a small town, everybody knows everybody else's business, if 4 people were really sick with this in town, people would be talking about it and everyone would know who it was".

2.) So what if our numbers are higher than Italy, we have a much larger population than Italy, so in reality it's not as big of a problem here as it is there. China? China lies. Their statistics mean nothing because they're not accurate. We have more cases because we have more people, period.

3.) It's only a problem for the old and sick. Let high risk people stay home and let the rest of us get on with our lives. Okay, maybe someone who appeared young and healthy died, but how do we know they didn't have an undiagnosed condition? And if not? So what? Occasionally young healthy people die, it happens. But we can't shut the country down and hide in our houses because a handful of healthy young people get unlucky.

4.) How many people die from cancer, car crashes, drug overdoses, etc... every week? People die. We don't shut down the country after holiday weekends when drunk driving fatalities increase.

5.) The statistics are lies. Anyone who tests positive and dies at this time goes on the Coronavirus fatality list. Positive for Coronavirus and die in a car crash? Officially your death goes on the Coronavirus list. Hospice patients who die and test positive are always listed as Coronavirus fatalities, not what they were dying from in the first place. Recovering from a mild case and get shot in a robbery? Coronavirus fatality. If you're old and sickly and die while infected with the Coronavirus, you were dying anyway, this just sped things up a bit.

6.) More people will die from the effects of destroying the economy than from the virus. Suicide, domestic violence, violent robberies, lack of fresh air and exercise, starvation, stress, and lack of affording medical care will kill many times as many people as actually die from the virus.

7.) We're punishing and destroying an entire nation for a handful of problem areas where it's out of control. Quarantine the problem cities and and let the rest of us have our lives back.

I mean, those opinions and responses are everywhere on social media. Any tweet, Facebook post, online news story... A significant percentage of the population doesn't care. It would take a New York and Italy scenario in suburbs, small towns, and in all of the cities across the nation for them to start to care.

I agree with you that looking at graphs for figures to compare different countries can be inaccurate for a number of reasons. Different countries use different criteria when recording as well as being dependent on the number tested.  BUT the death rate in New York city being higher than a comparable city cannot be denied. It is much much higher than in other countries. London is equally as dense, population wise,  as NY in fact London has over 9 million population to NY's roughly 8 million, yet the death numbers are poles apart - NY 8627 to London at 2577.

As for comparing data per capita - the polulation of China  far outstrips the US. Yes. one can agree that China has possibly not released accurate figure but can you also be sure that figures from the US are accurate as to how many are infected?How are they collected, what figures are collected?  That applies to all countries though not just US. I know the number infected are far higher in London than what is recorded as they only record numbers that are admitted to hospital. Comparison on how many are infected is virtually impossible to do between countries unless they all record in the same manner. Death figures don't have the same inaccuracies. 

I agree with that some people just don't care. They still adhere to the-this is way overblown theory. I am doing some door screening at our clinics and hospitals, and trust me, you would NOT believe people. I've seen/heard it all, from one extreme to the other. you have the ones that think we are being rude in screening them to come in to a medical facility. No, we are not picking on your,or being rude. We are asking every single person these questions. you are being rude by not letting us do our jobs. And then you have the fearful elderly coming in with masks they made themselves at home. gloves, and barely making it in the door, fearful, but knowing they need to attend their eye injections or lab work.

Exactly

I am 51 with asthma and a few other issues.  I also have three fairly young children (youngest just turned 8)  it would destroy our family and leave three young kids without a Mother.  

Well Duh! No testing keeps the numbers down for the orange moron.

This is the most bracing reality that I have seen and shared with those I know.

Warning, while no one is shown specifically in distress or dying, it is a bit hard to watch because it is emotionally overwhelming at times

www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000007076660/coronavirus-hot-zone.html

I agree with this.  Americans are individualist.  As opposed to a nation like Japan were the citizens think of the good of the entire country before they think of themselves.  I see it on my NextDoor app.  Many people are arguing about the government taking away our rights. Hopefully there are enough of us staying home to lower the number of cases. 

DH and I have been having conversations about something along this line.  What has priority, the economy or public safety?  The obvious answer seems to be public safety, but if things continue as they are how many people will start to get depressed, how many will not be able to control their depression?  How many more will commit suicide?  How many more domestic violence attacks will there be?  How many more children will be abused?  All because the economic impact on some families is too much.   Is there a balance?  No one answer is right for everyone or all areas.  

Well, FYi, not everyone is doing what they are supposed to in Japan. Tokyo is a catastrophe waiting to happen.

They weren’t testing anyone for the longest time, they are barely testing people now, there is still not a in shelter in place for everyone, businesses are not all listening to the limited shut down list and their work culture is worse than ours about being allowed to work from home.

My daughter had to quit her job because her language school expected her to come in to teach video lessons she could just as easily do from her apartment. ( after they spent 2 days ignoring the ‘shut down suggestions’ from the government ) Japan used the head in the sand ignoring it policy for too long, and now that they did issue some policies- no the entire country is not listening to the government.

Frankly, NY city did a better job of clearing the streets than I ever thought possible.

He is stupid. Allowing it to run rampant, would’ve killed the economy most assuredly.

100% Injustice trickles, and is magnified. Our local NPR station has done reporting on this: www.wbez.org/stories/in-chicago-70-of-covid-19-deaths-are-black/dd3f295f-445e-4e38-b37f-a1503782b507

And then we have the Surgeon General out there telling black people to avoid alcohol, smoking and drugs, as though this wasn't an issue of systemic racism and could be solved by what... not drinking? It boggles.

www.vox.com/2020/4/11/21217428/surgeon-general-jerome-adams-big-mama-coronavirus

There are new numbers on who is getting it!
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The data also isn’t complete. While information on age and sex of those who tested positive is mostly whole, race and ethnicity is only known for about 21% of cases.

So who has been hardest hit so far by COVID-19 as of April 10, the most recent data available? Those ages 30 to 64 are testing positive at a higher rate than other age groups. But those age 80 and older are most likely to be hospitalized.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 4.2 million adults aged 30-64 live in New Jersey, or 47% of the population. But people aged 30-64 account for 65% of all COVID-19 patients in the state, the Department of Health’s data shows. That equates to more than 35,000 people in that age range, more than any other.
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www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/04/who-is-most-likely-to-have-coronavirus-in-nj-those-ages-30-64-new-data-shows.html