How can a disease with 1% mortality shut down the United States?

A 1% mortality rate might not seem like much, but the death rate for COVID-19 is just the tip of a massive iceberg that the US economy is heading towards full-steam ahead.

From Franklin Veaux's Quora post:

For every one person who dies:

19 more require hospitalization.18 of those will have permanent heart damage for the rest of their lives.10 will have permanent lung damage.3 will have strokes.2 will have neurological damage that leads to chronic weakness and loss of coordination.2 will have neurological damage that leads to loss of cognitive function.

So now all of a sudden, that but its only 1% fatal! becomes:

3,282,000 people dead.62,358,000 hospitalized.59,076,000 people with permanent heart damage.32,820,000 people with permanent lung damage.9,846,000 people with strokes.6,564,000 people with muscle weakness.6,564,000 people with loss of cognitive function.

His conclusion: "The choice is not 'ruin the economy to save 1%.' If we reopen the economy, it will be destroyed anyway. The US economy cannot survive everyone getting COVID-19."

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