Covid-19 Observations

[RICHARD]

Good to "see" you again, Richard!

I'm so glad you made it through whatever-you-had there.

Thanks, it's been a while!

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hahaha,

I have a huge laundry list of some of the stupidity that I have heard in the media.


Like comparing this to the Spanish flu/pandemic of 1918.

I took some infectious disease classes and learned that numbers do not lie.

But........the numbers/figures this time around are very misleading in some ways.

For example?

Compare health care today against the HC in 1918.

Most diseases like measles, whooping cough - go down the list? - were not treatable at that time. Isolation was the rule of thumb. These days most diseases have been tamed or wiped out.

Now a doctor has the web at his finger tips and the ability to get info faster that the speed of light.

Imagine having to stop and got to the library with a list of symptoms in hand to make a diagnosis?

Look at the medical tech in use today?

When I worked they were still taking appendixes out by cutting slits into your belly and having you spend three days in the hospital, Now? It's done with a scope and you get to go home the next day.

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My biggest laugh is from the projection of a second wave this winter.

Back in 1918, to travel, you needed time and to get where you needed to be. These days you hop on a jet and get there the same day.

It does spread the disease faster, but it also removes all the people you would have to interact with on your trip.

These numbers and stats are being touted as 'truth' but they are based on a formula that only counts exponential growth - without looking at other factors. Like population density, food, previous health.... Look at the general health, longevity, well being of a person living in 1918 and compare it to today?

People are living longer, eat healthier and are not subjected to the type of planet we used to have..

Another example is the air quality and HVAC systems?

Most of us live in or visit buildings where the air is recycled in a system that filters and in some cases kills any pathogens in the air with UV light.

Going to the bank in 1918 could probably kill you it your cashier had a cold?

THese days the air inside a building is kept circulating and cleaned - as long as the electricity is going!

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My last complaint is about the numbers game the media plays with the public.

Every time i see a break down of the numbers involved? It really make me angry.

The true numbers won't be known for a while, but here is an example?

We know that X amount of tests are done, X people are positive and X died.


That is so misleading because without any other numbers you would think that getting the CV is going to kill you?

If you have a populated town that has 10,000 people in it and you test half? that is 5k tests.

Out of the 5k that are tested? 2000 are infected, of the 2k that are infected, 50 die.

Only recently they have started to add the number of recovered cases to the lists.

If you only test 100 cases and 50 die?

It makes the numbers sound way worse than they really are. When you look at the numbers that way it makes it look like 50% of all cases are terminal.

We do not have the numbers of people who have recovered or have been exposed and show no symptoms to make a real guess at the numbers. As those numbers come in, the morbidity rate will go down and we will have a better picture of what is going on.

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I am not saying to ditch your masks or go to a bar tonight, But I am saying that people are freaking out way to quickly and not using common sense when it comes down to being smart about this situation.

I hope that everyone stays safe - things are not as bad as the media says the are.

if they were? You'd be fighting zombies on your front porch right about now and you would not be able to get your mail....


Hang tough, folks!

Someone has to.

[Karen]

I am in Vermont now - welcome back, Richard, we have missed you. And people are being very careful, being good about social distancing, etc. No one around here I know has had it, but several friends from high school days have lost parents or friends to Covid down in Massachusetts.

The media hype everything, it's their job, and social media siloing is a real thing!

[mon]

Cheers to you dear, thoughtful Richard. Lord love a duck.

[mon]

What makes me angry is people being violent. It is unacceptable and revolting to me. Particularly when it's being doled out be peeps who have been granted authority. REALLY PISSES ME OFF!

[mon]

P.s. Most human being realize we must sort the wheat from the chaff. Sorta goes without sayin, maybe a large percentage of what goes in one ear should go directly out the other. Clearly.

[mon]

Covid is a real scary thing. Just like syphillis, leprosy and venereal warts. Try to avoid them all peeps.

[Karen]

I think much of the problem is today's media goes even more for what used to be termed "yellow journalism" - sensationalizing stories, reducing everything to opinion and soundbites. That and the siloing effect some social media platforms promulgate.

A young woman I know tangentially (I helped edit her mother's book) was just stabbed repeatedly in her hometown of Las Vegas, apparently just because of her race. The woman called her the n-word over and over, as she slashed and stabbed her seven or eight times.

This young woman is not only a sweet, beautiful person, but she is a NURSE for heaven's sake. But that person did not see her kindness or her job description, or her strength of character, just her skin color. Please keep Yasmine in your prayers, the wounds are all superficial, but of course she is traumatized, frightened, and will likely end up with scars on her pretty face.