have to have sympathy for Dr Fauci and Birx dealing with the loose cannon they have to work with
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(look how haggard she looks in this picture, could that be from dealing with trump?)
I am attaching two videos to this entry to make my point. Dr Birx and Dr Fauci are doing the best they can to advice the public in a responsible constructive way. All you have to do is watch the first video to realize that Dr Birx is trying to be as careful and cautious as possible in how she words things so as to not sow false hope that suddenly in a week or two it will be safe to go back to life as it was before the pandemic struck.
In the second video, it is make clear what she and Fauci are having to deal with. At a press conference, which should only be an update on what is actually known about the situation, trump goes off on a tangent about therapy that HE thinks would work. We then watch as he turns to Dr Birx, in front of the entire watching public, and asks her what she knows about the heat and light “remedy”.
Of course, Dr Birx, endeavors to answer the question in such a way as to not encourage people across the country from drinking bleach or trying to do whatever it would take to “introduce high temperatures and light into the body via the skin or some other way” as trump suggested without actually saying anything that would trigger his very easily activated rage reaction. She acknowledged that fever was a good thing as it meant the body was fighting the virus. That is consistent with known science and medicine. But there is a vast difference between a natural response of fever (showing that the white blood cells are mounting a fight against the invasion) and an intrusion of either light or high temperatures from outside the body.
While there are some medical professionals doing research that think that heat and moisture might help kill the virus, that is not particularly well borne out in the actual world. The virus has hit tropical and semi-tropical areas like New Orleans and Southern Florida almost as badly as anywhere else, especially when per capita rates are taken into account. Louisiana at one time was three in terms of cases and we certainly have more than our share of moisture all year round. And that is just in this country, what about Africa and other places around the world that are usually warmer and damper than this country.
The reality is that we simply don’t need the American public in on possible treatments however viable, until such time as the experts determine more about how effective they are going to be and what the science is behind that method. The point being that trump is suggesting, publicly, dangerous behavior that might just be followed by the several people in this country that seem to think he is some sort of divine intervention in our national life.
The makers of Lysol were concerned enough about the bit of unsupportable guessing and immediately speaking that today, one day after that offending press conference, they released a special message. As reported in the New York Times, it explains that in no way do they recommend the ingestion of lysol or any other disinfectant for the prevention or cure of any viral agent much less Covid-19.
It is a sad time when manufacturers have to try and counter suggestions planted in the minds of many Americans by an over eager and talkative and truly unqualified person sitting in the White House. And what does he mean “light and heat via the skin or some other way”? And furthermore, what will the least savvy among us understand that to mean? Will we be getting reports of people trying to swallow a flashlight or a hot poker in order to kill the virus?
The point is that reckless banter and introduction of crazy unchecked “theories” could possibly add to the death toll. And of course, trump would deny any responsibility as he does for everything else, even though it was his words that gave them the idea.
If you think I am being an alarmist, remember that all it took was word from trump that “we have to get back to work, we can’t let the cure be worse than the disease” to cause so called “freedom fighters” to take to the streets with semi-automatic guns and demand an end to the social distancing that has prevented a lot more people from dying.
Oh, and by the way, Maryland Emergency Agency has reported receiving several calls from people wanting to see if they should drink some disinfection. And this is just the day after the ill advised and rash speculation in that press conference.
