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I hope this doesn't break any rules. I just thought it was a good share, and that more people should read the doctor's response.
One person asked the question: Why is the media making the coronavirus into a larger deal than it is if in my lifetime I have seen far more dangerous viruses?
Another person answered:
I am a doctor and I can tell you under no uncertain terms that you are deathly mistaken. If you have the time please read on and I will explain.
Ok, Let me clear up your obvious confusion. There exist viruses that are much more dangerous to individuals such as Ebola, but they are so deadly in such a short time that they kill their hosts before they can spread too far. So viruses like Ebola are more of a regional threat with very little possibility of it ever spreading all over the world to become a pandemic. Add to that that these very deadly viruses tend to affect very poor third world countries which means regional flare ups are usually ignored by rich countries. During the huge Ebola scare in the US a grand total of 11 people were infected with two dying. Yes, only two people died.
What makes coronavirus so worrisome? It is what we call a novel or “new” virus which infected the first human being only a few months ago. Experts believe the virus first jumped from animals to infect the first human sometime between October and November of last year in Wuhan China. What this means is that no one on earth is immune to this virus. Let’s add to that the fact that this virus is very, very contagious and people who are at risk can fall deathly ill in a matter of hours. Infected people, especially younger people, could spread the virus for up to two weeks before presenting symptoms. In some cases there can be totally asymptomatic and Unknowingly infect hundreds or thousands of other people.
Those that have the misfortune of getting seriously ill due to coronavirus start with fever and coughing which rapidly deteriorates into pneumonia as their lungs are basically destroyed in a matter of hours. They basically drown as their lungs rapidly fill with fluid and Dead cells sloughing off the inside lining of their lungs. These people will die without artificial respirators, period.
So you still say so what? Current estimates by the CDC between 160 million and 214 million people in the U.S. could be infected over the course of the pandemic, according to one projection. That could last months or even over a year, with infections concentrated in shorter periods, staggered across time in different communities, experts said. As many as 200,000 to 1.7 millón people could die.
Worse still, calculations based on the C.D.C.’s data suggested, 2.4 million to 21 million people in the U.S. could require hospitalization, potentially crushing the nation’s medical system, which has only about 925,000 staffed hospital beds. Fewer than a tenth of those are for people who are critically ill.
So the danger here is that we have a rapidly spreading virus that has the potential to overwhelm and collapse our whole healthcare system. We can end up in a situation where there are no more beds available with overworked staff with people lying on the floors of the hospitals. Remember when I mentioned that those who are severely ill will die without the help of artificial respirators? Well doctors will now be forced to ration the available ICU beds and artificial respirators, in effect deciding who gets to live and who dies. This exact situation is currently happening in both Italy and Spain as we speak.
Italian doctors on coronavirus frontline face tough calls on whom to save
This is the scenario that we are facing and are trying to avoid at all costs. The good news is that this is a worst case scenario which can be mitigated by continuing and expanding social isolation policies along with increased testing and a more integrated response which we are currently seeing in many states.
Unfortunately our president is not on the same page and is keen to make decisions which every single expert in the world say would make the situation much, much worse. This is not a political statement, this is fact.
The idea behind social isolation is to break or slow down the cycle of infection so that the amount of sick people does not overwhelm and collapse our healthcare system. This has worked in other countries, including China. But should we allow short sighted and selfish politicians reverse social isolation policies the chain of infection will once again establish itself fully which means very bad news for us.
We have to fight misinformation, lies and plain old ignorance and make people understand that this is more than politics, many people will die.
I'm all for raising awareness, so thanks for doing your part.
But none of this is new information, it's entirely the inspiration behind the "flattening the curve" drive currently underway. Assuming it's not a matter of "if" you're going to be infected but rather "when", doing everything possible to delay that from happening helps free up healthcare resources.
And at the risk of allowing this thread to jump its rails into a political debate, this is the very best time to listen to experts in healthcare and science, and to tune out politicians. My oldest son advocates for voting out absolutely everyone in public office as of March 1, 2020 and replacing them with someone (anyone) new. Because as he's quick to point out, they all put politics ahead of their constituents best interests and we should never forgive any of them, even the ones we like.
I'm all for raising awareness, so thanks for doing your part.
But none of this is new information, it's entirely the inspiration behind the "flattening the curve" drive currently underway. Assuming it's not a matter of "if" you're going to be infected but rather "when", doing everything possible to delay that from happening helps free up healthcare resources.
And at the risk of allowing this thread to jump its rails into a political debate, this is the very best time to listen to experts in healthcare and science, and to tune out politicians. My oldest son advocates for voting out absolutely everyone in public office as of March 1, 2020 and replacing them with someone (anyone) new. Because as he's quick to point out, they all put politics ahead of their constituents best interests and we should never forgive any of them, even the ones we like.
Have him watch the Cardboard Box Reform "documentary" on Youtube.
Its done by a NASA Scientist and suffers from less than whiz bang production quality, but in terms of information is well done. Hour long so there is that level of commitment.
I'm all for raising awareness, so thanks for doing your part.
But none of this is new information, it's entirely the inspiration behind the "flattening the curve" drive currently underway. Assuming it's not a matter of "if" you're going to be infected but rather "when", doing everything possible to delay that from happening helps free up healthcare resources.
And at the risk of allowing this thread to jump its rails into a political debate, this is the very best time to listen to experts in healthcare and science, and to tune out politicians. My oldest son advocates for voting out absolutely everyone in public office as of March 1, 2020 and replacing them with someone (anyone) new. Because as he's quick to point out, they all put politics ahead of their constituents best interests and we should never forgive any of them, even the ones we like.
It isn't new information to you. It wasn't new information to me. It isn't new information to many. It probably is new information to many. Many people still don't understand the reality of the situation.
Unfortunately, I don't think we can completely tune out politicians. Idiots or not, self-interested buttheads or not, they still affect our lives. Plus, if we tune them out completely, how would we know who to keep/discard? Unless of course, we follow your son's advice. Good luck with that (not that I don't like the idea)! How about complete apathy toward voting? Just like your son's suggestion, it will never happen, but what message would that send? Might it do some good? Think about it. The thing is, it has to be a universal decision, and that is why it will never happen.
The idea of replacing someone with anyone is dangerous. At least, it is potentially dangerous. I don't hate your son's thought process entirely, but I feel it needs some more consideration.
The post that I shared? It was just written by some dude on a forum in response to a question asked by some other dude.
Did his politics come through? Sure. So what? Again, just some dude.
Propaganda? Haha or LOL depending on your age.
You are critiquing his writing? Haha or LOL again, and thanks for YOUR contribution.
This is going on in forums all over the interwebs.
Inconvenient Truths = Political Propaganda
See the reaction to the Imperial College estimates being adjusted the other day as a perfect example. "See, their original numbers were just trying to scare everyone!!!!" meanwhile their numbers, as originally published, clearly stated "if the UK does NOTHING......"
We know that the UK did in fact do SOMETHING, but those are just details and footnotes now.... Even BoJo gots the Rona.
we'll never know if we are overreacting, but we'll certainly know if we've UNDER-reacted.
Truth.
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