Take your covid chances

Newsweek magazine caused an uproar 34 years ago by writing that white, college-educated women who were still single at age 40 had a bigger chance of being killed by a terrorist than getting married. The probability of their tying the knot, a study found, was only 2.6%. The claim was later debunked, but it still felt true. So how does covid-19 stack up? Figures released yesterday by Health Min. Jan Blatný indicate that about one-third of the 7,353 covid-related deaths as of Nov. 18 were directly caused by covid. This means that only four women in the 35-44 age group died directly of covid. According to the Statistical Office, there are 836,750 Czech women in this age group, of which 202,160 are single (never married) and 25% are college-educated. Even if that debunked figure of 2.6% were accurate, it would still mean that single, college-educated Czech women around 40 have a far bigger chance of finding a husband on a date than of catching and succumbing to covid.