Are we as safe with Covid-19 now as some think we are? The answer is no
There has been for some time, a resistance to the social distancing and mask wearing guidelines that has been put out by the CDC and just about every health care agency for the purpose of prevention of the continued spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Some even go as far as to claim that it is a hoax.
I have never understood how these conspiracy theories get started. However, I tend to think that we are safer trusting the people who spend their lives in health care and pandemic and epidemic prevention and care than we are a untrained person who read on facebook or somewhere that the whole thing was made up. Who are these so-called experts claiming this? More often than not, I believe you will find that they are people with a political or ideological slant that insists that some agency or person can not be trusted because…..or whatever.
Well, naturally people believe what they believe and are entitled to that opinion. However, I refuse to have my life put in danger by listening to uninformed people with some sort of agenda tell me what I should or should not do when my life might just be what I am gambling with. If that means staying away from large crowds, that is more than ok with me. For me, that includes the grocery, which I replaced with home delivery.
Looks look at the figures coming out today. Now this information is from yesterday at the end of the reporting day…usually about 4pm or so.
First the national figures for the last 24 hours before the report:
Total Cases: 1,571,617
New Cases: 20522
Deaths: 94,150
New Deaths: 1089
Looking at the above figures, it is easy to tell. In the 24 hours involved in this reporting, there have been 20,522 new cases with 1089 new deaths. That is just in a 24 hour period. Doesn’t look to me like the contagion nor the deaths have stopped even though it is at least supposedly moving into the warmer months. I think this IS a bit of improvement from earlier as it was first ramping up, but it isn’t over and people are still dying.
Now, let’s look at Louisiana, since that is the state I live in. In fact, I am proud to say that I live in New Orleans, which I maintain is the best city in the state, but then I am definitely biased.
Louisiana did a major lockdown. All across the state, every large gathering was shut down. Schools were closed for the year starting in March of this year and continuing to now..or June whenever school would normally let out for the Summer. The New Orleans area started out as third in number of infections and deaths for a while. This was most especially true when population size was taken into account.
Our New Orleans mayor allowed Mardi Gras to happen this year, and that is likely one reason the numbers were so high at the beginning. But then the federal government was still saying at that time that there were 15 cases which would likely disappear like magic (or was it one and over at that point in late February). Well, they didn’t and it got worse instead. Once the trend started, the mayor quickly cancelled all community wide actually. That means the Easter Parade, the St Patrick’s Day Parade. Today, she and the governor closed all theaters and sports outlets and bars. Bars are a HUGE part of New Orleans social life. The French Quarter gets most of its allure from the many bars that are available, but that holds for other parts of the city as well. We are “going to the bar and drinking” city. It is what tourists come here for.
Of course, that was taken care because tourism was basically shut down and many hotels were closed. A lot of closure, but it helped get the infection rate and death rate down.
Here are Louisiana’s figures as of the same general as the national numbers above.
total infections: 36,925
new infections: 421
total deaths: 2545
new deaths: 39
Believe me that is a huge improvement over earlier numbers.
Once again, this was accomplished, not by the temperature getting higher, because our temperatures here are changeable from day to day or even a shorter time period. I have seen the temperature drop or rise 18 or 20 degrees in an hours time if a rain comes though. The social distancing and the stay at home orders are directly responsible for the downturn in infections and deaths.
I am a person at risk. First I am 66 years old, making me a senior. Don’t imagine, however, that anybody is exempt from this pandemic. Children and young adults seem to be experience the effects with some having the signs of something very similar to Toxic Shock. Second, I have high blood pressure although it is controlled with medication and thirdly, I am a diabetic, also controlled with medication. In addition, I have had skin cancer. It was “the bad kind” but it was skin cancer. So, whatever other people do, I will stay home, not spend a lot of time in direct sunlight (skin cancer remember) and stay away from crowds. I get sun coming in the windows, believe me. Unfortunately, some people refuse to cooperate and wear mask and therefor could easily endanger my very life. Asked what I have to lose…my life!!!
With the national levels continuing to climb, even though a bit slower than at first, and our state almost stopped, things should be obvious. I am still going to be careful. I suspect if I know somebody is coming in from Texas or Arizona where they were more resistant to shutting down for the health of the population, I will avoid those persons…and since I don’t know who they might be necessarily, I am likely to just try to distance from everybody, even if and when the infection and death here in New Orleans went to zero, if it wasn’t that everywhere.
I also think that, as the medical experts are saying (you know people like the CDC and Fauci), that next year, this crap is probably going to come back. In fact I read just a few days ago that there was a third strain in another part of China. That would bring it to three strains, one directly from China, one from Europe and then another from China which apparently hasn’t made it here yet as far as we know.
As the Webmd article explains, coronavirus are a large group…and there are several in existence so there may be even more coming at some point in the near or far future. Hopefully, immunity can be achieved by either a vaccine or getting it once. But even that is not certain.
So, no matter what rumors, conspiracy theories or just people who “believe” it isn’t as bad as others think, it is your life at stake. Be careful out there. The life you save may be your own.
