The Antonine plague killed 2,6% of the world population. Covid, so far? 0.04%. It is not even close to beat the Antonine plague.
Just for perspective: The upper estimate for covid deaths in 2020 was 3M. The average estimate for yearly tobacco deaths is around 7.5 M. Every FUCKING YEAR, almost 3 covid pandemics caused by cigarretes.
Not to mention that the averaged covid death age is very close to the average life expectation, that is, a majority of people who died of it would probably die in one year or two.
Does it means is not a serious disease? No. it doesn't. Does it means it is a hoax? hell, no!
But does it means that there's an unwarranted level of panic? You sure bet.
7 figure body counts in 2 years put you in the top ten deadliest natural disasters in human history.
No one was talking about fraction of the population, nor was anyone talking about effective reduction of life expectancy. You specifically were using the metric body count.
If you want to make an argument that this pandemic isn't that bad because the people who died this time don't count for as much as those who died in other pandemics, you can do so, but I think that's a poor strategy for corporate PR.
You can lean into it but only so far.