The US has hit the once-unthinkable milestone of one million coronavirus deaths – yet despite this grim mark, reports show that the pandemic has become an afterthought for many Americans consumed with other glaring issues, like ’s war on .
Anticipating the horrific milestone, which was , President said he would be ordering flags at the White House and all federal buildings to be flown at half-staff.
He added that, as a nation, Americans ‘must not grow numb to such sorrow’.
But are his words too late?
According to some psychologists, coronavirus fatigue has already struck many Americans due to the way we cultivate empathy and feel connected to victims.
‘There’s a terrible quote, often attributed to Joseph Stalin, that “a single death is a tragedy – a million deaths is a statistic,”‘ New York University psychology professor Jay Van Bavel told Metro.co.uk, referencing the Soviet leader widely condemned for mass repression and ethnic cleansing.
‘It’s a horrible fact that we’re getting close to one million deaths, and each death that comes in doesn’t seem to carry the same emotional weight for people.’
The phenomenon known as compassion collapse offers one explanation for why many choose to disengage in the face of massive global tragedy. The theory asserts that for some, it’s easier to feel empathy for a clear, identifiable victim than it is to feel for millions suffering a similar situation.
So, while the plight of a mother and her children desperately trying to escape death and destruction might spur someone to shed a tear or make a donation that may offer them support, the thought of such a massive number of people affected by similar turmoil may be too overwhelming to comprehend.
A recent poll found that just 4% of Americans think that Covid-19 or diseases are the top problem facing the country today. Meanwhile, the survey revealed that 11% of Americans feel that the war in Ukraine triumphs the coronavirus, and some other topics, as the most important issue.
A study by released in late April showed that the two issues swapped in terms of higher concern in recent months. In January, before Russia invaded Ukraine, 20% of Americans said the most important problem facing the US was the coronavirus.
By March, when Russia’s assault was well underway, 9% of Americans said the most important problem was the situation with Ukraine, versus just 3% who said it was the virus. Concern over both issues dropped in April, but more Americans still considered the Russia-Ukraine situation a bigger problem than Covid-19.
‘In the context of this tragedy, where the scale is so large, there does seem to be evidence that people grow increasingly indifferent to it,’ Van Bavel said.
‘In the case of people who have lost somebody, or know somebody who’s passed away, they might have a more acute sense of scale of it because it’s touched them.’
On the flip side, people may also tune out as a way of managing their emotions, Pennsylvania State University psychology professor Daryl Cameron told Metro.co.uk.
‘Sometimes you hear the claim that when it gets to a toll this large, we just can’t feel any empathy. But I think that neglects how sometimes people might opt in and choose to sort of disengage from their feelings,’ said Cameron.
‘Even if people are growing more numb, there are different accounts for why that is.’
The US has recorded nearly 999,000 coronavirus deaths as of Thursday, according to . The (CDC), which the Biden administration is also tracking for the official death count, had the figure at 996,376. , which is also tallying the fatalities, reached one million deaths a week ago, and called it on Thursday.
Worry over the coronavirus has been on a steady decline, and the one million deaths have appeared to had no affect. A poll released on Wednesday showed that Americans’ coronavirus concerns are at their lowest level since July 2021, with just 17% very or moderately worried, down from 69% in April 2020.
While cultivating empathy may be easier when there’s an established connection to the victim, people can also choose to disengage as a form of mental preservation.
‘We opt to read some news stories and not other news stories. We can choose what to watch on television, we can structure our everyday lives in order to change what emotions mean,’ Cameron said.
Reading a story or watching a news clip about one particular person’s loss has a greater emotional impact than a large number, like one million coronavirus deaths, he explained.
