The Daily Populous

Covid-19 Surpasses 1918 Flu to Become Deadliest Pandemic in American History

The coronavirus pandemic has become the deadliest disease outbreak in recent American history with tolls surpassing the estimated deaths of the 1918 flu.

The 1918 flu, also known as the Spanish flu, spread worldwide during 1918 and 1919.

In 1918, the population was less than a third of today's at 103 million people living in U.S. right before the 1920s.

So, while the 1918 flu killed one in every 150 Americans, Covid-19 has killed one in 500 people so far, per CNBC.

Globally, Covid-19 has taken the lives of 4.7 million people, whereas the 1918 pandemic killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million people.

When looking at the national population-level data during the two events, the 1918 influenza still tops Covid-19, per Stat News.

Medicine was also not as advanced during 1918, and a vaccine against influenza was not available, according to CNN. »

Prison guards, but not mother, get counselling after baby dies in cell

Authored by theguardian.com

After passing out, she came round to find her baby girl was there but not breathing.

She bit through the umbilical cord and tried to wipe the blood from her cell before climbing into bed.

She even told a nurse she would “kill herself” if her baby was taken into care but the prison failed to step up monitoring. »

Swiss vote 'yes' to same-sex marriage

Authored by dw.com

Official results show 64.1% voted "yes" to legalizing same-sex marriages, while 36% voted "no," according to initial results from the gfs.bern polling agency.

However, supporters have said it could take months before such marriages could take place, mainly because of the country's administrative and legislative procedures.

Switzerland decriminalized homosexuality in 1942, but local and regional police forces were known to have maintained "gay registers" until the 1990s. »

Extinction of Indigenous languages leads to loss of exclusive knowledge about medicinal plants

Authored by news.mongabay.com

It found that 91% of this knowledge exists in a single language, and that the extinction of that language implies the loss of the medicinal knowledge as well.

In a recent study, Bascompte and biodiversity specialist Rodrigo Cámara-Leret warn that the extinction of Indigenous languages equates to a loss of traditional knowledge about medicinal plants, which could reduce chances for the discovery of future medicines.

While upholding this call for action, the study highlights that the loss of languages will likely have a greater impact on the extinction of medicinal knowledge than the loss of biodiversity. »