Mike Florio Compares Covid-19 to Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

As a sports fan, when I watch television, it is often sports related.  One of the shows I enjoy watching is Pro Football Talk on NBCSN.  As a conservative, one of the things I have learned is that the sports media is about as far left as the mainstream media.  But, I tune in for the sports talk, and rarely does politics rear its ugly head on the shows I enjoy.

Worldwide, roughly 1 out of every 15 million people have been infected, and in the U.S., 1 in every 3 million have been infected. And, truth be told, a massive majority of those reported cases have already recovered. 80% of the people’s symptoms are mild, and of the over 4,000 deaths worldwide, nearly all of them were people who were older, or had some kind of condition that lowered their ability to fight off the disease.

Meanwhile, in recent history, we lose a little more than 10,000 people per year to the flu (more than that worldwide). 18,000 people have died from the Swine Flu, and when it first appeared in April of 2009, it took the Obama administration ten months to take action because they didn’t consider it that large of a threat. HIV/AIDS has killed 36 million since its emergence in 1981.

The coronavirus, based on those numbers, is not nearly the killer they are making it out to be. In truth, it is actually a minor irritant.

After getting home tonight from a Tea Party event, which had a small number due largely to the weather, and partly because of coronavirus fears, I watched Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity.  After completing those shows, I flipped it over to the last episode of Pro Football Talk, and Mike Florio, one of the hosts on the program, said after co-host Chris Simms gave a monologue about how he was glad people were taking the coronavirus more seriously of late, “and to the extent that there are sports fans who don’t quite understand the gravity of the situation, we are going to take some time over the next couple of hours to make sure you realize why it’s important that we don’t gather in the thousands and that don’t have this virus permeate through our communities…this is one of the strangest days we’ve ever done this show, Chris, and I can say that because this is one of the strangest days I can remember in my lifetime, maybe ever.  We always like to witness history, we are all not that keen on living history.  And, whatever is happening now, is historic, it’s unprecedented, it’s the first major health crisis since the Spanish Flu of 1918.”

And stop.

Here is a partial list of virus outbreaks since, and including, the Spanish Flu of 1918:

1918-1920 … Spanish Flu … H1N1 Virus (Swine Flu) … Up to 100,000,000 dead
1974 … Smallpox Epidemic … Smallpox … primarily India … about 15,000 dead
1960 to present (first U.S. appearance in 1981) … HIV/AIDS … More than 32,000,000
2009 … Flu (H1N1 Swine Flu) … Estimated worldwide 575,400 deaths
2010 to present … Haiti Cholera Outbreak … About 10,000 deaths
2011-2014 … Measles outbreak, largely in Congo … greater than 4,500 deaths
2013-2016 … Ebola, worldwide, but primarily in West Africa … greater than 11,300 deaths
2016 to present … Cholera, primarily Yemen … 3,886 deaths
2019 … Measles primarily in Congo … greater than 5,000 deaths
2019-2020 … Coronavirus … approaching 5,000 deaths worldwide.

Remember, the CDC estimates that as many as 56,000 people die from the flu and common cold each year.

Mike Florio is an idiot, and part of the problem with the media spreading untrue hysteria about the coronavirus.

Again, as I always try to explain, I am not saying we should be the opposite of the fear-mongers on the left and not worry at all.  Be concerned.  Take reasonable actions like washing your hands, and not uncharacteristically chasing after big crowds.  But, let’s not compare this to the Spanish Flu, or any of the other pandemics that dot history.  We don’t need undue panic in the public.  Shame on Mike Florio for trying to fan such a flame.

– Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary