Have heard a handful of “naysayers,” but many more non-alarmists and pragmatists.
So is this were i can say it all again?
It is a cold virus. Odds are, most will come in contact with it eventually.
Many colds lead to viral bronchitis or pneumonitis. This one leads to severe viral pneumonitis in some persons. To GI distress in others. Or both. And others, just a vague viral syndrome or nothing at all. Understand, you’ve ALL been thru this before, MANY times.
Like every year, some barely know they had it, some get sick, and some do die of COMPLICATIONS of the illness..
This happens EVERY virus season.
Like most respiratory viruses, it hits the elderly, the immunocompromised, those with respiratory diseases the hardest. The rare, relatively well person, will also have a bad outcome. Not new. If you read carefully, MOST of them also had health risks, too. It does not mean “We’re all gonna die!!!”
This season’s cold virus is an exceptionally bad one, yes. Multiples of bad if in the high risk group. Yes, that’s bad. 3,4,5x as bad - it’s not perfectly known. On a ventilator-bad, yes. May not have enough ventilators-bad, yes. It is NOT, however, small pox or ebola. Some of you survived polio. Keep it in perspective.
Prevention = hygiene. Always been the case. “Social distancing” is an extension of that. I.e. limit the density of the virus persons encounter, and lessen the density of people interacting and sharing spit, air, surfaces. Always been true, and now more urgent.
There. Have tried to offer informed context without jargon and speculation. I call it “a cold” to keep it in perspective. It is not the boogie man. It is not the movie “The Happening.” Don’t like it? Not exciting enough? You can get all the hot air and panic you want on Tv and social media, then. The wing-flapping clucking hens who are all suddenly medical experts, watching cnn then turning to type on social media, will continue to do what they do.
