How Coronavirus Might Actually Save Lives
Because of the reduction in air pollution, there will be fewer deaths than if we were chugging about as normal.
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Coronavirus pandemic triggers reduction in global air pollution
Recent data from the European Space Agency's (ESA) Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite has shown a marked reduction over Italy in the amount of nitrogen dioxide, a gas produced from road traffic and other fossil fuel combustion processes, during the country's nationwide lockdown.
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OP's note: there are many more examples cited in the article, along with illustrations.
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So just how significant are these short-term drops in air pollution? According to Stanford researcher Marshall Burke, this drop — down a quarter to a third in some places compared to last year's levels — has likely saved the lives of 4,000 kids under 5 and 73,000 adults over 70 in China. While he adds that it's "foolhardy" to conclude that pandemics are good for health — in particular without factoring the negative social and economic impacts such disruptions cause — he does note that such data is revealing for other reasons.
"The calculation is perhaps a useful reminder of the often-hidden health consequences of the status quo, i.e. the substantial costs that our current way of doing things exacts on our health and livelihoods," he writes.
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Remember the fable about the slow boil of the frog?
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The boiling frog is a fable describing a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. (wikipedia)
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That's what we're doing--slowly boiling ourselves to death. Our regular way of life causes more death to the young and the elderly than coronavirus.