In the Brent Larkin column published July 26 in The Lima News, he writes that the Covid-19 pandemic is “likely the greatest public health crisis in the nation’s history.” While Mr. Larkin is entitled to his opinion, facts prove his statement wrong. The 1918 (Spanish) Influenza infected about 500 million people, which was one-third of the world’s population at the time. It is estimated that at least 50 million people died worldwide, and around 675,000 deaths occurred in the U.S. The mortality rate was high in young, healthy people.
I don’t know anyone who would not consider that outbreak as “likely the greatest public health crisis in the nation’s history.”
I’m not surprised that Mr. Larkin would like to sway people’s opinions about our government leaders, but I am stunned that the former editorial director of the Cleveland newspaper wouldn’t get his facts right. Since it is so easy to do a quick internet search for information, some would say he is intentionally lying.
Martha R. Kahle, Lima
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