Thread by @ashtonpittman

NEW: More Mississippians have now died of COVID-19 than died in 1918 amid the Great Influenza pandemic—the deadliest in modern history.

Mississippi's excess death toll in 1918 was 7,312.

Mississippi's excess death toll in 2020 was 7,314.
mississippifreepress.org/8979/in-missis…

Mississippi's mortality rate reached a 102-year-high in 2020, dwarfed only by 1918, when the state's population was a third smaller and medical science was far less advanced (there was no flu vaccine until 1945).

Interactive chart here: mississippifreepress.org/8979/in-missis…

Mississippi's 2020 excess death toll of 7,314 likely means thousands more died of COVID-19 last year than officially reported; By year's end, the state had officially confirmed only 4,816 deaths.

Last year, Dr. Dobbs said "undercounting" was likely. mississippifreepress.org/8979/in-missis…

In 1918, Mississippi's top public health official ordered the closure of churches to stop the spread of the influenza pandemic.

In 2020, though, Gov. Reeves refused to close churches as the virus ravaged congregations, citing "religious liberty." mississippifreepress.org/8979/in-missis…

Some church closures in 1918 were targeted. In Noxubee County, public health officials allowed white churches to reopen as the virus abated among white residents.

But they kept Black churches closed as flu ripped through the Black community. mississippifreepress.org/8979/in-missis…

Black Mississippians accounted for a whopping 68% of the 1918 Flu's death toll.

When COVID-19 arrived last spring, it looked like history would repeat: 70% of those dying were Black.

But a huge reversal happened. Now, ~60% of total Covid deaths are white.mississippifreepress.org/8979/in-missis…

Even as thousands of Black Mississippians died amid the 1918 influenza pandemic, the Natchez Democrat ran this racist joke about an elderly Black man mistaking telephone operators in white flu masks for members of the Ku Klux Klan.
mississippifreepress.org/8979/in-missis…

It's obviously too late for Mississippi to prevent COVID-19 from claiming as many lives in 2020 as the Great Influenza in 1918.

We can still stop it from claiming as many in 2021 as influenza did in 1919 (~3,000).

But we may already be halfway there.
mississippifreepress.org/8979/in-missis…

In 1918, the Jackson Advocate praised shutdown orders, saying "the few" opposed "deserve no credit for putting their opinions up against that of an expert.”

In 2020, Gov. Reeves called 4 top doctors "so-called experts" as they begged him to mandate masks.mississippifreepress.org/8979/in-missis…

•1918 Mississippi•
Total Deaths: 30,437
1915-1917 Avg: 23,125
Excess Deaths: 7,312

•2020 Mississippi•
Total Deaths: 39,840
2017-2019 Avg: 32,526
Excess Deaths: 7,314
mississippifreepress.org/8979/in-missis…

On the interactive chart, you can isolate elements, making it easier to examine mortality rate or to see see how excess deaths compare year-by-year.

The two tall bright purple bars show how 1918 and 2020's excess death tolls tower over every year between.mississippifreepress.org/8979/in-missis…

Correction to this tweet: It was the Jackson Daily News, not Advocate.

https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/status/1357532584679464966

Correction to this tweet: It was the Jackson Daily News, not Advocate.

In 1918, the Jackson Daily News praised shutdown orders, saying "the few" opposed "deserve no credit for putting their opinions up against that of an expert.”

In 2020, Gov Reeves called 4 top doctors "so-called experts" as they begged him to mandate masks.mississippifreepress.org/8979/in-missis…

For national perspective, the 1918 Influenza killed ~675k Americans nationwide.

COVID-19 has killed at least 450k in the US, but excess deaths put it as high as 550k.

But while the US population tripled from 1918 to 2020, Mississippi's grew by only a third.

If you support @MSFreePress' reporting and our dedication to putting news in historical context, please support non-profit, paywall-free journalism with a donation: mfp.ms/donate

*There was no flu vaccine until 1940; it wasn't broadly available to the public until 1945.