Sandy Shanks
Gold Member
- Jul 10, 2018
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- #641
I put this in Politics because if I put it in health, few will see it. As well as politics of this virus was clouding my mind in the same way it has clouded all of our minds.
As mentioned before, my son is a Respiratory Care Specialist at one of the nations leading Children's hospitals and my daughter is a Respiratory Therapist at a large metropolitan hospital/trauma center. When I say they are on the front lines of this, I mean they are on the front lines.
Up until Friday, I was not that concerned about getting it, or my wife or the two of them. Like most, I was comfortable in the knowledge that it is primarily a concern for the very old/folks with underlying illness.
That is no longer the case.
This weekend, all over the country hospitals are getting much younger patients that require life saving care - and they have no other illness. And the numbers you are seeing reported are not representative of the actual numbers. It is higher.
Like many, I scoffed at all of these restrictions the government was laying out. 4 states with "stay at home" orders. I thought this was over reacting.
Until I got a call from both my kids. Especially my daughter, upset and for the first time afraid and scared. "It is really bad here Dad, we are getting more and more and they are getting younger".
A 32 year old, who 48 hours earlier was at work, feeling a little funny. Last night he was on life support and fighting for his life. Add more to that. Kids also.
The situation is evolving. And it is changing in not a good way.
Take it serious folks. Don't wait until it effects you or someone you know. Change what you are doing now.
Thank God our government took this more seriously than we did.... I guess they knew more than us.
On a good note. The malaria drug is showing promise. Yesterday a 66 year old at the hospital was in critical condition on a breathing machine. He has received 2 malaria shots, is now off the machine and sitting up and talking. It isn't working for everyone, but it is clearly having positive results on some.
Yes, you, the media, and the government are giving us all the bad news. Here is the truth of the matter.
When we do get to hear from Trump's medical experts, they talk a great deal about testing and the increasing number of cases. They never talk about the death rate, the only true measure of the severity of a viral pandemic. Those numbers are too low, and discussing the death the death toll would seriously damage the message they are trying to deliver. Nor will they provide the ages of those who died. That, too, would harm the message.
As opposed to only a week ago, hundreds of thousands of tests have now been conducted, accounting for the dramatic rise in the number of cases, not necessarily increases in the number of new cases on a daily basis.
As of now in a population of 327 million there are 60,653 cases of the common cold caused by Covid-19 in the past three months of winter. That number is actually quite low.
819 Americans have died in the past three months from Covid-19 induced common cold. "80% of deaths associated with COVID-19 are among adults aged 65 years and older with the highest percentage of severe outcomes among persons aged 85 years and older. Also, the evidence shows those people were already sick with serious maladies before there ever was Covid-19. Again, in three months of winter, 327 million people, that number is small.