Comparing Apples to Apples in the Big Apple

 

The graphs show the numbers of deaths per 100,000 person-months at the peaks of the 1918 H1N1 Pandemic (top) and the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic (bottom).  Both graphs are for New York City.  The 1918 Pandemic spike showed an increase of 180% in deaths and the 2020 Pandemic a 315% increase.  All values are for the peak months of each pandemic:  The 61-day period from October through November for the years 1914 to 1918 and the 61-day period from March 11 through April 11 for the years 2017 to 2020.  Source: Journal of the American Medical Association (tinyurl.com/y2p4hl29).