Monday, March 09, 2020

Got my Coronavirus briefing yesterday

You want to know what the top docs in the USA think?

Don't panic.  Wash your hands.  Stay away from infected people.

Look, the actual death rate of Covid 19 is essentially unknown, because it's hard to calculate percentages when a good portion of the people infected with the virus don't even show any symptoms!

Let me restate that:  At this point, at least 14% of the people infected with Covid 19 that they know of do not show any symptoms.  That means that the actual effect of this virus on a normal person's body is lesser than the seasonal flu.

That's not to say there are no problems.  This bug seems to hit older folks hard, and it hits a statistically significant percentage of males more than females.  But it's not Flubola that we're dealing here.  The fatality percentage being bandied about is 2-3%.  As the doc briefed yesterday, how can you make that claim when you know for a fact that there are thousands of people who got Covid 19 and didn't go to the hospital because it was just the sniffles and a sore throat?  That 2-3% fatality rate is based on the cases we know about, which is a remarkably smaller number than the cases we don't know about.

Also, what kind of condition were these folks in before they got this virus and died?  Is it taking down perfectly healthy adults?  The flu does that sometimes.  Or, is it as I suspect, that this virus is taking out the infirm and elderly, just like the flu does every year to less fanfare?

The greatest threat we face from this virus is not the physical effects on any person or group of people here in the USA.  The threat is from the fact that China, being a filthy, communist-run shithole who we've given ALL of our manufacturing capability, won't be able to supply the things they used to make but now cannot make because entire cities are quarantined.  We're going to take an economic hit, and maybe, just maybe, the right people will get a wake-up call.  But stop thinking we're all going to die.  We won't, not yet.

Don't panic.  Wash your hands.  Stay away from people you know have the virus, if possible.  And quite frankly, get outside if you can.  Fresh air and sunlight seem to be a better treatment for this virus than any man-made medicine.


2 comments:

p2 said...

I'm no doc, but I have stayed in a Holiday Inn Express before. A couple fingers of fine single malt taken with a decent hand rolled cigar, both in conjunction with a relaxing evening with family and friends will cure ya of virtually anything.

Where's my cutter?

Ragin' Dave said...

Well, given that alcohol is a disinfectant, we need to disinfect ourselves from the inside out. I think it's time for a Manhattan or two.