About the coronavirus pandemic.
I am keeping this post pithy.
I grow weary of the shenanigans surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. I am not minimizing the pandemic.
For that matter, I do not minimize flu season. The flu killed more people this season in the United States than the novel coronavirus has so far.
Seasonal influenza 2019-2020:
24,000-62,000 deaths out of 39,000,000-56,000,000 cases
*NOTE: Because influenza surveillance does not capture all cases of flu that occur in the U.S., CDC provides these estimated ranges to better reflect the larger burden of influenza. These estimates are calculated based on CDC’s weekly influenza surveillance data and are preliminary.
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm
Novel coronavirus 2019-2020
35,443 deaths out of 690,714 cases
*NOTE: CDC does not know the exact number of COVID-19 illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths for a variety of reasons. COVID-19 can cause mild illness, symptoms might not appear immediately, there are delays in reporting and testing, not everyone who is infected gets tested or seeks medical care, and there may be differences in how states and territories confirm numbers in their jurisdictions.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html
Looking at the numbers comparatively, one can see the cause for concern, so again, I am not minimizing the need to take precautions. One should take precautions against contracting any disease no matter what.
However, the seasonal flu kills at least as many people or more than the coronavirus has killed, yet we did not virtually shutdown the economy and cause undue pain on many (but not all) in the American workforce for the seasonal flu.
It is for this reason that I am of the opinion that the countermeasures being taken are based more on fear and politics than on science and an abundance of caution.
80% of coronavirus deaths are among those 65 and older.
https://www.businessinsider.com/most-us-coronavirus-deaths-ages-65-older-cdc-report-2020-3?op=1
Granted, no one should put their elders at risk by not taking precautions. However, we should be thinking of our health and well-being as well as that of our elderly citizens as a matter of simply living on this planet.
Perspective is what we need right now and always, not fear.
-The Rational Ram
The Rational Ram 