It is because Covid is considered endemic. Meaning it is here, infecting humans and it is here to stay. We also have treatments, they may not work for everyone, but that's also normal.

The bird flu is not endemic. The name kind of says it, its still mostly in birds. The reason why people focus on a single case in humans is that such an event could trigger the broad adaptation of the virus to humans (zoonosis).

Right now the virus has low potential to get transmitted, because it has not yet adapted to humans. If this happens, it could very well trigger the next pandemic.

And if you were unhappy about how fast the Coronavirus could mutate over the course of pandemic... well then get ready for worse since Influenza viruses whole deal is about mutating and recombining their transcripts.

So yes, there is a reason people focus so much on this one case.

[–] jballs@sh.itjust.works 24 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Looking at that COVID tracker, I was surprised to learn that earlier this year, we were at 10% of the peak deaths per week. It didn't even make the news. There hasn't been any major visible effort to increase vaccines. My family and I have got our update shots, but when I mentioned getting boosters to my coworkers they all shrugged off.

Seems like there's a baseline level of death that people are just kind of ok with.

[–] BaldManGoomba@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

I think it is becoming overwhelming clear news doesn't care about lives unless it makes them money. They will never let a shutdown happen in the foreseeable future.

[–] cryptiod137@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago

Look at flu deaths, now consider how many people you know don't get flu shots.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1124915/flu-deaths-number-us/

[–] jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It doesn't seem outlandish under the circumstances that covid acts like a brain parasite that forces its host to deny covid's existence or significance. It perfectly matches widespread behavior.

But the truth is people really are just that god damn stupid and don't need the help.

[–] jballs@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 days ago

I dunno about the parasite aspect, but I know COVID has been linked to brain damage. So if you think about it, a large percentage of the population being brain damaged is actually a good explanation for what happened with the election.

[–] kerrigan778@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Yes, that's called life, we will never reduce death to zero, we will not even really reduce the total amount, 100% of people on earth now without exception will die and there is nothing whatsoever we can do about it. We can only look at preventing PREMATURE death. If Covid is the infection that finishes off someone who is very elderly and unhealthy already it is not nearly as large of a cause for concern than when an otherwise healthy teenager is killed by a new type of infection. Covid still kills a large number of people, much like flu, and bacterial pneumonia, and heart disease. It is however no longer a major factor in EXCESS deaths, is, causes of deaths that are disproportionately and significantly reducing the average age and health of the human population. Saying, some death is acceptable is an incredibly obvious fact of life when you think about it, it's pointless and futile to try to prevent all deaths.

Look at this way, "reducing death" does not mean making some people not die, that's impossible. "Reducing death" means increasing the average age of the population and reducing the likelihood of people dying while they're young.

[–] Hikermick@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago

Wait until they see how many people die of the flu each year

[–] BruceTwarzen@lemm.ee 35 points 2 days ago (4 children)

I feel like they know that they can't make people care for covid ever again. We're not better prepared if something like this happens again, quite the opposite, the next pandemic is gonna me a grade a shitshow. I work for a lot of different people, and a lot of them still can't wait to tell me their take on covid, and pretty much all of them are in agreement that they would never get vaccinated again.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 6 points 2 days ago

Yeah. We joked about the dumb trope where the cheerleader goes down into the dark spooky basement to check on that weird sound with a dodgy flashlight, but then we discovered we're all apparently the cheerleader.

Wear this face diaper, respect everyone's personal space and wash your hands properly? We learned this when our TV-nannies showed us MASH and stElsewhere and Scrubs. Too much for us to commit to, though, as if an entire super-nation doesn't do it every winter.

[–] Bonesince1997@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago

Best you can hope for is that it is far into the future that a new set of idiots or otherwise gets a crack at it.

[–] Etterra@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

That's because nobody's had time to refuse a bird flu vaccine because they're fucking idiots yet.

[–] Blackout@fedia.io 21 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Why even have deadly diseases if they spare the ones that deserve it the most? Remember when we thought Trump was dying, good days.

[–] jballs@sh.itjust.works 9 points 2 days ago

Trump getting helicoptered to the hospital and me texting my conservative neighbor who responded "fake news" is one of my fondest memories.

Shame it turned out the way it did.

[–] archomrade@midwest.social 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I can't wait for everyone to make a big deal about COVID again now that Trump is heading back to the WH.

Never-mind that it's been raging basically un-restricted for the last 4 years while the CDC has been relaxing its mitigation guidance - now that Trump and his anti-vax buddies are back in office it's suddenly going to be a crisis again.

Say whatever you want about COVID becoming endemic and not important enough to act against, Biden took the very first opportunity to cut back on COVID labor protections as soon as it was clear that increasing vaccination rates wasn't going to solve the rapid spread. Things like paid sick leave, the eviction moratorium and rent freezes, Federally funded COBRA and free treatment initiatives were all groundbreaking social programs that should have been made into permanent fixtures and would have been a positive legacy for his administration, but they didn't even try to stretch those programs on the basis that COVID was still a clear and present danger.

Big "mission accomplished" vibes.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 6 points 2 days ago

Yeah. "Who's in the white House" is the only variable in this equation.

[–] thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works -3 points 1 day ago

For the most part, those still dying from COVID19 are self-selecting by refusing to keep on top of their vaccine boosters. Ditto for the flu.

I have no sympathy, and the world will be a better place without them.

[–] Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Covid is old news

[–] yumpsuit@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Are you sure? OOP’s Mastodon timeline is a great place to see what’s up, and you clearly care a bit.

[–] Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago

It's the reason why people don't care about those 800 deaths. It's old news.