CrosswordNewsletters
DAILY BEAST
ALL
  • Cheat Sheet
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Entertainment
  • Media
  • Innovation
  • Covid-19
  • World
  • U.S. News
  • Scouted
  • Travel
CHEAT SHEET
    POLITICS
    • Biden World
    • Elections
    • Opinion
    • National Security
    • Congress
    • Pay Dirt
    • The New Abnormal
    • Right Richter
    • Trumpland
    MEDIA
    • Daytime Talk
    • Late-Night
    • Fox News
    U.S. NEWS
    • Identities
    • Crime
    • Race
    • LGBT
    • Extremism
    • Coronavirus
    WORLD
    • Russia
    • Europe
    • China
    • Middle East
    SCIENCE
    • Hunt for the Cure
    • Rabbit Hole
    TRAVEL
      ENTERTAINMENT
      • TV
      • Movies
      • Music
      • Comedy
      • Sports
      • Sex
      • TDBs Obsessed
      • Awards Shows
      • The Last Laugh
      HALF-FULL
        CULTURE
        • Power Trip
        • Fashion
        • Books
        • Royalist
        TECH
        • Disinformation
        SCOUTED
        • Face Masks
        • Clothing
        • Technology
        • Bedroom
        • Kitchen
        • Home
        • Fitness
        • The Case For
        • I'm Looking For
        • New Kids On the Block
        COUPONS
        • Adidas Promo Codes
        • DoorDash Promo Codes
        • H&M Coupons
        • Hotwire Promo Codes
        • Wine.com Discounts
        • Vitacost Coupons
        • Spanx Promo Codes
        • StubHub Promo Codes
        Products
        NewslettersPodcastsCrosswordsSubscription
        FOLLOW US
        GOT A TIP?

        SEARCH

        HOMEPAGE
        Coronavirus

        50,000 Benghazis, 109 Katrinas: U.S. COVID-19 Death in Perspective

        LET US NOT FORGET

        Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast

        The United States now counts over 200,000 dead in direct connection with the novel coronavirus. Here’s how that massive figure stacks up to Benghazi, 9/11, and much more.

        Elizabeth Hunt Brockway

        Editorial Visual Director

        Updated Sep. 22, 2020 6:23PM ET / Published Sep. 22, 2020 11:51AM ET 

        The battle of Gettysburg. The D-Day invasion of Normandy. The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

        These are some of the most harrowing moments of mass death and suffering in American history—nightmares seared indelibly into the national consciousness. And yet they pale in terms of sheer lethality when compared to the novel coronavirus, which has now claimed more than 200,000 lives in the United States in a little over seven months.

        For over half of 2020, Americans have sifted through daily reports of those deaths. What began as a trickle of misery out of the Northwest transformed into a flood of hundreds and in some cases thousands of lives lost per day. Suddenly, what would otherwise be national days of mourning in tribute to those lost became just another day in a horrible year.

        With the daily barrage of grim statistics, the actual human cost of coronavirus can often feel too abstract to fully process. In an effort to help contextualize the lethal breadth of the disease, The Daily Beast has visually mapped the death toll of COVID-19 on top of prior national catastrophes: days that “will live in infamy...”, others that Americans vowed to “never forget.”

        From the 1906 San Francisco earthquake to the attack on Pearl Harbor, from the sinking of the Titanic to Hurricane Katrina, from the Oklahoma City federal building bombing to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, from the Hindenburg to the Benghazi consulate attack, this is a disturbing look at the human destruction already wrought by COVID-19 compared to some of the most trying moments in American history.

        Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast

        Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast

        Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast

        Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast

        Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast

        Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast

        Advertisement

        Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast

        Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast

        Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast

        Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast

        Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast

        Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast

        DAILY BEAST
        • Podcasts
        • Cheat Sheet
        • Politics
        • Crime
        • Entertainment
        • Media
        • Covid-19
        • Half Full
        • U.S. News
        • Scouted
        • Travel
        • Subscription
        • Crossword
        • Newsletters
        • Podcasts
        • About
        • Contact
        • Tips
        • Jobs
        • Advertise
        • Help
        • Privacy
        • Code of Ethics & Standards
        • Diversity
        • Terms & Conditions
        • Copyright & Trademark
        • Sitemap
        • Coupons
        © 2022 The Daily Beast Company LLC