Well. The upper estimates for Chernobyl-related deaths is 6000. Legasov's projections in the 80s cited 40000. That's nothing compared to COVID, and COVID is more global for sure (meaning that most people in most coutries experienced the effects of the pandemic on themselves).
Nuclear disaster sound scary, but COVID is actually objectively scarier.
(Not sure which way you meant the comparison goes)
I meant if Moscow kept a lid on the Chernobyl situation and did not allow them to "fix" it as that would have admitted that Soviet engineering was falible. Had the various nightmare scenarios been allowed to happen (meltdown reaching the water table, etc) due to pride, then Chernobyl could have been so much worse. Could COVID had been mitigated from becoming a global pandemic if "pride" had not affected Bejing?
Nuclear disaster sound scary, but COVID is actually objectively scarier.
(Not sure which way you meant the comparison goes)