Last November, an article appeared in the Bend Bulletin documenting Covid-19 comments made by County Commissioner Patti Adair during a commissioners meeting.

The article was printed Nov. 17, 2020, and the meeting occurred Nov. 16, 2020. During the meeting Commissioner Adair stated that “People are getting tired of this,” and “You only live once,” regarding the COVID virus. She further stated that the “…true pandemic was in 1918, when more Americans died from the flu than in combat during World War 1.”

We are coming up to the one-year anniversary of the “official” beginning of the pandemic on March 10. It might be educational to review these comments in light of some facts.

In 1918 there were approximately 29.4 million infected with the flu in this country, and the CDC estimates that 675,000 died. As of today according to the website Worldometers, there have been 29,659,398 infected and 537,280 deaths in this country. Keep in mind World War I lasted two years, and these statistics are for one year.

An article by U.S. News, Feb. 22, noted that 500,000 died during World War II, Korean and Vietnam wars, and further that there were now more COVID-19 deaths that those wars combined. According to Wikapedia, there were 116,516 deaths in World War I and 405,399 deaths in World War II. That means there are now more deaths from COVID-19 than those wars combined

Maybe Commissioner Adair would care to revise her comments.

— Steve Peterson, Redmond

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