Excellent article indi.ca

A comparison can be made with the AIDS epidemic where the suffering (at least in cities) was much more visible. Because it was not as contagious and patient privacy perhaps less a factor, the obviously sick were not as detached in public mind.

This may partly explain the failure of the U.S. population to really grip the reality of the pandemic. Not aggressively adopting all the defensive measures available to us. And hence 800,000 deaths later.

Without images, wars, famines and other hideous things would largely go unattended.