I will preface this post with an important disclaimer: This is not intended to be a political post in any way, but with all the social distancing time I've had to think, I have come up with some honest questions that I think need to be addressed. Today may not be the day, but the questions should be answered in the days and weeks to come. Some of these questions may never be answered; some will be over time. A few, I think I know the answer, but they are unprovable. I ask that you at least consider these questions for the good of us all.
1) What are the numbers about COVID 19 telling us and maybe more importantly, what aren't they telling us? Currently, according to the Johns Hopkins tracker, there are 454,398 confirmed cases, 112,581 cases who have recovered and 20,549 deaths. According to everything I have read, there are probably hundreds of thousands of people who have had the virus, didn't know it and have recovered. Until we get to a place that we can test everyone, we have no way of knowing what the actual mortality rate is. Without testing everyone on the planet for antibodies there is absolutely no way to know what the real mortality is. As a percentage of the numbers listed above, the death rate of confirmed cases is 4.5%. What we don't know is how many of those deaths had pre-existing and exacerbating conditions. It would go a long way to calm the worldwide panic if we knew how many people actually die from COVID 19 who were essentially "healthy". I suspect the death rate would be much lower. Secondly, according to the numbers, 25% of confirmed cases have recovered. How do we account for the remaining 70.5% of cases? Are they still ill, so we don't know the outcome yet? Are all the reported deaths directly proven to be from COVID 19? And lastly, how do the number of deaths per day compare to the "usual" rates?
2) I, like all of you, am concerned about COVID 19. We would be fools not to be. But I am curious about the level of panic associated with this strain. Over a 1-yr. period in the United States (4/12/09-4/12/10), according to the CDC, there were 60.8 MILLION cases of Swine flu! 274,000+ people were hospitalized and 12,469 deaths were reported. Why wasn't the system overwhelmed by that number of cases? Do we have fewer ventilators now? I understand the important effort to "slow the spread", but at this pace, will we even get close to the numbers for Swine flu? Unless you were one of the families affected by this horrible flu, do you even remember it? Why does this COVID strain require this level of panic?
3) I think it is safe to say that this COVID 19 pandemic is a new experience for most of us. We should be cautious, we should be wise, we should do everything we can to protect the vulnerable until we have a vaccine and/or the medications to defeat it--and I am completely confident that our medical professionals and scientists will. But, it seems like there are lot of people/entities that can profit from fomenting blind panic. For example:
A. China: President Trump's foreign policy towards China has created serious problems for them
economically. He has pressured them to stop currency manipulation and insisted that they stop stealing our intellectual property and their constant cyber-terrorism against us. Trump is also working hard to bring manufacturing jobs back to our shores to stop our reliance on Chinese manufacturing. Wouldn't China benefit greatly if Trump were not re-elected and all they had to do was hold out until January to return to the status quo? Aside from their irrational, cultural need to save face, why would they wait to so long to inform the world of this horrible disease? Why would they refuse our help to contain it there instead of allowing it to spread world-wide? Would anyone be surprised at the thought of a communist regime "sacrificing" a few million people for the "greater good"?
B. Wet Markets: I'm not even going to attempt to describe the level of grossness that exists in Wet Markets in the Orient. Google it if you really want to know. I know some of this is cultural, but scientists have pin-pointed the source of COVID 19 and the recent Bird flu from Wet Markets in China. Maybe it's time to invite China and others to join the 21st Century and enforce some standards of cleanliness and food safety in those markets. If not, maybe it's time we put some economic pressure on them to do so. The damage COVID 19 will do to the world, socially, emotionally and economically is incalculable. They will never take responsibility for it. So maybe it's time we isolate China--maybe we don't travel there and they aren't welcome outside of China until they change some things. Is that asking too much?
C. Universal Healthcare: By creating havoc in our country, socialist/communist proponents will use this as a justification to bring about a complete takeover of our healthcare system. Would it be worth it to them to foment panic in order to achieve this goal?
D. The Election: The Democrat Party's best chance to win the upcoming Presidential election is if the economy tanks. With the entirety of the main-stream media marching lock-step with the DNC, is it inconceivable that the media would intentionally exaggerate the issues and cherry-pick the information to prevent a Trump re-election? (For example, the headlines screaming that COVID 19 has a mortality rate TEN TIMES THAT OF THE FLU!! It is true. But if you only read the headline, then you don't know that the mortality rate of the flu is 0.1%. Ten times that is 1%. Although, all deaths from this virus are sad, 1% is not a massive number. That means that 99% of the people who actually get it, will survive. By the way, 1% is an approximate number from Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the CDC.)
E. Joe Biden: There may have been a time that Joe would have been a semi-formidable political opponent, but today is not that day. The fact of the matter is that he is becoming increasingly senile, embarrassing himself and destroying any legacy he might have had. It is actually very sad to watch. What is even sadder is that Democrats seem to think this is the best they've got. Fortunately for Joe, as he struggles to remain relevant in an era that has passed him by, he can use COVID 19 as an excuse not to debate Bernie Sanders and to disappear until November. Does that concern anyone but me?
F. The Status Quo: Since the end of World War II, a growing cabal of the uber-rich, intellectual elitists and entrenched bureaucrats have created a political climate where there is no real change. The election of Donald Trump has destroyed what existed of the power structure in the Republican Party...but not completely. Trump is an existential threat to the staus quo in all of Washington DC, Democrat, Republican or bureaucrat alike. Even worse, to those entrenched in this self-serving power structure, Trump is also threatening to expose and destroy it world-over. Whether you love or hate Trump, do you honestly think these people would stop at NOTHING to prevent this? Including exploiting the heck out of this pandemic to protect themselves?
G. Political Agenda: If this pandemic is as serious as the politicians are making it out to be, how can they possibly being using this proposed stimulus/aid bill as a political football? How is it possible that they are stuffing this bill with all kinds of pork and pet projects when Americans are suffering and our economy has literally been brought to its knees? Do they know something we don't? Are they not giving us the full story? Because if this is just politics as usual during an unprecedented crisis, then this is the sickest political manuevering I have ever seen. May they all burn in hell...
H. National Debt: If this aid package goes through, the total of the bill plus stimulus from the Fed will total $6 TRILLION. It is about a fourth of our year's entire GNP. Just let that sink in for a second. Our current debt is $23.5 trillion. If we do this thing, which sadly I feel we must, we will be increasing our national debt by one fourth. Are we ever going to get serious about addressing our national debt? China holds the majority of our debt. What will we do when they call our loans?
I. Medical Supply: Why in the hell are 95% our our antibiotics manufactured in China?! How have we so stupidly put ourelves in a position that China can use this as a political weapon against us? Does anyone in America understand that China is our enemy?
J. Over-reaction: My husband works at a hospital in Spokane. As of yesterday there were exactly three cases of hospitalization for coronavirus. However, hospitals have been asked to stop all non-emergent surgical cases indefinitely, even though the coronavirus cases are in complete isolation. About the only source of revenue hospitals have any more are non-emergent cases. And although I know people hate to hear this, hospitals can only keep their doors open for as long as they have paying customers. Any hospital can discontinue elective cases at a moment's notice. Why unnecessarily close off their revenue source until it becomes necessary?
K. Executive Over-reach: In the last few weeks there have been promising results with the use of chloroquine combined with other drugs as a treatment for severe cases of COVID 19. The Nevada governor today prohibited its use for coronavirus patients. Are you kidding me right now?! Does he even have the authority to do that? Are Nevadans okay with this? Talk about government over-reach.
L. Executive Over-reach 2: I live in Washington State, governed quite possibly by the dumbest human on planet earth, Jay Inslee. He, along with other governors, have shut down their states. Here's what I want to know: Did we all just surrender all of our freedoms without a whimper? Does any governor, mayor, etc. have the authority to just shut down businesses? How do they determine what is essential and what isn't? Are business owners not capable of determining whether or not they can operate safely? Why is it okay to put grocery store workers at risk but not other workers? I can think of dozens of businesses that can safely function and maintain social distancing and keep working!
M: Big Government: For those that feel that the government is the be-all, end-all answer to every problem, this will be seen as an opportunity to take away freedoms we may never get back. I understand fear. I am a chronic worry-wort. But I have learned over the years that most of the bad decisions I have made, have been done out of fear, not wisdom and definitely not logic. Are we making decisions out of fear or wisdom? It is simply not possible for us to prevent deaths from this virus or any other. We can and should be careful and I support the efforts to slow the spread. But we cannot shut off our economy indefinitely and expect that it will come back. I can guarantee we will get a handle on this virus, but the longer America is closed for business, the worse the repercussions will be. How long are we going to allow the government to override our own ability as adults to determine acceptable risk for each of us individually? At some point, we each are going to have to decide that for ourselves and move forward.
I was disturbed and saddened by the panic of the last couple of weeks. I was even more bothered by the widespread non-existent leadership at any governmental level to address it. Our supply chains are sound and the only shortages that exist are the ones we have created by our own stupid panic. Some medical shortages exist and we will need to examine closely, when this is all over, where we failed and where we must improve. But that is true of any crises. Live and learn is more than just an adage; the future requires that we apply it. But I know this: America will rise to the occasion. We always do. We are already hearing hundreds of stories of the creativity, generosity, service, and commitment we have to each other on a personal level and a corporate level. So many stories are out there of good deeds being done, of businesses doing the right thing. Sadly, there is also a dark side to crises. In every age of man, there have been those whose selfish quest for money and power will exploit ANY opportunity to increase it. My final question is this: Will we be wise enough to spot it and resist it before it's too late?
1) What are the numbers about COVID 19 telling us and maybe more importantly, what aren't they telling us? Currently, according to the Johns Hopkins tracker, there are 454,398 confirmed cases, 112,581 cases who have recovered and 20,549 deaths. According to everything I have read, there are probably hundreds of thousands of people who have had the virus, didn't know it and have recovered. Until we get to a place that we can test everyone, we have no way of knowing what the actual mortality rate is. Without testing everyone on the planet for antibodies there is absolutely no way to know what the real mortality is. As a percentage of the numbers listed above, the death rate of confirmed cases is 4.5%. What we don't know is how many of those deaths had pre-existing and exacerbating conditions. It would go a long way to calm the worldwide panic if we knew how many people actually die from COVID 19 who were essentially "healthy". I suspect the death rate would be much lower. Secondly, according to the numbers, 25% of confirmed cases have recovered. How do we account for the remaining 70.5% of cases? Are they still ill, so we don't know the outcome yet? Are all the reported deaths directly proven to be from COVID 19? And lastly, how do the number of deaths per day compare to the "usual" rates?
2) I, like all of you, am concerned about COVID 19. We would be fools not to be. But I am curious about the level of panic associated with this strain. Over a 1-yr. period in the United States (4/12/09-4/12/10), according to the CDC, there were 60.8 MILLION cases of Swine flu! 274,000+ people were hospitalized and 12,469 deaths were reported. Why wasn't the system overwhelmed by that number of cases? Do we have fewer ventilators now? I understand the important effort to "slow the spread", but at this pace, will we even get close to the numbers for Swine flu? Unless you were one of the families affected by this horrible flu, do you even remember it? Why does this COVID strain require this level of panic?
3) I think it is safe to say that this COVID 19 pandemic is a new experience for most of us. We should be cautious, we should be wise, we should do everything we can to protect the vulnerable until we have a vaccine and/or the medications to defeat it--and I am completely confident that our medical professionals and scientists will. But, it seems like there are lot of people/entities that can profit from fomenting blind panic. For example:
A. China: President Trump's foreign policy towards China has created serious problems for them
economically. He has pressured them to stop currency manipulation and insisted that they stop stealing our intellectual property and their constant cyber-terrorism against us. Trump is also working hard to bring manufacturing jobs back to our shores to stop our reliance on Chinese manufacturing. Wouldn't China benefit greatly if Trump were not re-elected and all they had to do was hold out until January to return to the status quo? Aside from their irrational, cultural need to save face, why would they wait to so long to inform the world of this horrible disease? Why would they refuse our help to contain it there instead of allowing it to spread world-wide? Would anyone be surprised at the thought of a communist regime "sacrificing" a few million people for the "greater good"?
B. Wet Markets: I'm not even going to attempt to describe the level of grossness that exists in Wet Markets in the Orient. Google it if you really want to know. I know some of this is cultural, but scientists have pin-pointed the source of COVID 19 and the recent Bird flu from Wet Markets in China. Maybe it's time to invite China and others to join the 21st Century and enforce some standards of cleanliness and food safety in those markets. If not, maybe it's time we put some economic pressure on them to do so. The damage COVID 19 will do to the world, socially, emotionally and economically is incalculable. They will never take responsibility for it. So maybe it's time we isolate China--maybe we don't travel there and they aren't welcome outside of China until they change some things. Is that asking too much?
C. Universal Healthcare: By creating havoc in our country, socialist/communist proponents will use this as a justification to bring about a complete takeover of our healthcare system. Would it be worth it to them to foment panic in order to achieve this goal?
D. The Election: The Democrat Party's best chance to win the upcoming Presidential election is if the economy tanks. With the entirety of the main-stream media marching lock-step with the DNC, is it inconceivable that the media would intentionally exaggerate the issues and cherry-pick the information to prevent a Trump re-election? (For example, the headlines screaming that COVID 19 has a mortality rate TEN TIMES THAT OF THE FLU!! It is true. But if you only read the headline, then you don't know that the mortality rate of the flu is 0.1%. Ten times that is 1%. Although, all deaths from this virus are sad, 1% is not a massive number. That means that 99% of the people who actually get it, will survive. By the way, 1% is an approximate number from Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the CDC.)
E. Joe Biden: There may have been a time that Joe would have been a semi-formidable political opponent, but today is not that day. The fact of the matter is that he is becoming increasingly senile, embarrassing himself and destroying any legacy he might have had. It is actually very sad to watch. What is even sadder is that Democrats seem to think this is the best they've got. Fortunately for Joe, as he struggles to remain relevant in an era that has passed him by, he can use COVID 19 as an excuse not to debate Bernie Sanders and to disappear until November. Does that concern anyone but me?
F. The Status Quo: Since the end of World War II, a growing cabal of the uber-rich, intellectual elitists and entrenched bureaucrats have created a political climate where there is no real change. The election of Donald Trump has destroyed what existed of the power structure in the Republican Party...but not completely. Trump is an existential threat to the staus quo in all of Washington DC, Democrat, Republican or bureaucrat alike. Even worse, to those entrenched in this self-serving power structure, Trump is also threatening to expose and destroy it world-over. Whether you love or hate Trump, do you honestly think these people would stop at NOTHING to prevent this? Including exploiting the heck out of this pandemic to protect themselves?
G. Political Agenda: If this pandemic is as serious as the politicians are making it out to be, how can they possibly being using this proposed stimulus/aid bill as a political football? How is it possible that they are stuffing this bill with all kinds of pork and pet projects when Americans are suffering and our economy has literally been brought to its knees? Do they know something we don't? Are they not giving us the full story? Because if this is just politics as usual during an unprecedented crisis, then this is the sickest political manuevering I have ever seen. May they all burn in hell...
H. National Debt: If this aid package goes through, the total of the bill plus stimulus from the Fed will total $6 TRILLION. It is about a fourth of our year's entire GNP. Just let that sink in for a second. Our current debt is $23.5 trillion. If we do this thing, which sadly I feel we must, we will be increasing our national debt by one fourth. Are we ever going to get serious about addressing our national debt? China holds the majority of our debt. What will we do when they call our loans?
I. Medical Supply: Why in the hell are 95% our our antibiotics manufactured in China?! How have we so stupidly put ourelves in a position that China can use this as a political weapon against us? Does anyone in America understand that China is our enemy?
J. Over-reaction: My husband works at a hospital in Spokane. As of yesterday there were exactly three cases of hospitalization for coronavirus. However, hospitals have been asked to stop all non-emergent surgical cases indefinitely, even though the coronavirus cases are in complete isolation. About the only source of revenue hospitals have any more are non-emergent cases. And although I know people hate to hear this, hospitals can only keep their doors open for as long as they have paying customers. Any hospital can discontinue elective cases at a moment's notice. Why unnecessarily close off their revenue source until it becomes necessary?
K. Executive Over-reach: In the last few weeks there have been promising results with the use of chloroquine combined with other drugs as a treatment for severe cases of COVID 19. The Nevada governor today prohibited its use for coronavirus patients. Are you kidding me right now?! Does he even have the authority to do that? Are Nevadans okay with this? Talk about government over-reach.
L. Executive Over-reach 2: I live in Washington State, governed quite possibly by the dumbest human on planet earth, Jay Inslee. He, along with other governors, have shut down their states. Here's what I want to know: Did we all just surrender all of our freedoms without a whimper? Does any governor, mayor, etc. have the authority to just shut down businesses? How do they determine what is essential and what isn't? Are business owners not capable of determining whether or not they can operate safely? Why is it okay to put grocery store workers at risk but not other workers? I can think of dozens of businesses that can safely function and maintain social distancing and keep working!
M: Big Government: For those that feel that the government is the be-all, end-all answer to every problem, this will be seen as an opportunity to take away freedoms we may never get back. I understand fear. I am a chronic worry-wort. But I have learned over the years that most of the bad decisions I have made, have been done out of fear, not wisdom and definitely not logic. Are we making decisions out of fear or wisdom? It is simply not possible for us to prevent deaths from this virus or any other. We can and should be careful and I support the efforts to slow the spread. But we cannot shut off our economy indefinitely and expect that it will come back. I can guarantee we will get a handle on this virus, but the longer America is closed for business, the worse the repercussions will be. How long are we going to allow the government to override our own ability as adults to determine acceptable risk for each of us individually? At some point, we each are going to have to decide that for ourselves and move forward.
I was disturbed and saddened by the panic of the last couple of weeks. I was even more bothered by the widespread non-existent leadership at any governmental level to address it. Our supply chains are sound and the only shortages that exist are the ones we have created by our own stupid panic. Some medical shortages exist and we will need to examine closely, when this is all over, where we failed and where we must improve. But that is true of any crises. Live and learn is more than just an adage; the future requires that we apply it. But I know this: America will rise to the occasion. We always do. We are already hearing hundreds of stories of the creativity, generosity, service, and commitment we have to each other on a personal level and a corporate level. So many stories are out there of good deeds being done, of businesses doing the right thing. Sadly, there is also a dark side to crises. In every age of man, there have been those whose selfish quest for money and power will exploit ANY opportunity to increase it. My final question is this: Will we be wise enough to spot it and resist it before it's too late?
This might possibly be your best blog of all time! Great job Lori! Wish more people could read this!
ReplyDelete