Yes, Covid is terrible, but so far it pales in comparison to the 1918 pandemic.
Estimates vary, but total worldwide deaths are usually estimated at 50 million.
That was when the earth's population was about a quarter of what it is today.
The majority of those deaths occurred within the space of one year.

In comparison, the deadliest war in human history was World War II which caused 75 million
deaths (of which only 20 million were military personnel) over a six year period.

Scary stuff.

Here is a very interesting article about the impact of Barry's book in 2005:
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/george-bush-2005-wait-pandemic-late-prepare/story?id=69979013

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