If you want to say the number inside the headline is useless, I won't argue.
But you were agreeing with a claim that the headline itself was useless. That's not the same thing.
If the headline was useful without the number, which you seem to agree with[1], then the headline is still useful with the number. It's like adding an extra filler word to a sentence. The word is useless, but it doesn't ruin the sentence it's inside of.
[1] Note that the original headline already had qualitative information, and made it clear that this number was unusually high. It's not qualitative vs. quantitative, it's qualitative vs. both.
But you were agreeing with a claim that the headline itself was useless. That's not the same thing.
If the headline was useful without the number, which you seem to agree with[1], then the headline is still useful with the number. It's like adding an extra filler word to a sentence. The word is useless, but it doesn't ruin the sentence it's inside of.
[1] Note that the original headline already had qualitative information, and made it clear that this number was unusually high. It's not qualitative vs. quantitative, it's qualitative vs. both.