COVID-19 Falsehoods

As we learn more and more about COVID-19 we have discovered that some of the “fake news” being circulated by right wing leaning individuals on social media has now been proven false by data driven statistics.

The first bogus proclamation is that this virus is no big concern, because the chances of contracting it is no greater than contracting the yearly flu.  It really isn’t that contagious.  False, data from China show that each coronavirus case seems to infect about 2 to 2.5 additional people. That's higher than the flu. The average seasonal flu patient spreads it to about 1.3 others.

The second, that the coronavirus will just go away, like the seasonal flu, at the end of the winter months.  It’s still here with no indication that it’s even remotely dissipating.

The third, the final death rate for corona wouldn’t be much greater than that cited yearly from the flu.   False again, the U.S. death rate from last year’s flu season was about 62,000.  At the end of June the five month U.S. corona death rate totaled over 130,000.   Additionally, it is estimated that this figure might be 28% under reported because of people who died at home in small rural communities who never sought a doctor’s care.

An additional falsehood, those wearing a mask and social distancing do little to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  As many states and communities attempt to return to pre-corona times, by opening up venues that make social distancing impossible (bars, restaurants with indoor service, and casinos), and often flaunt the mask requirement, we see the reported number of new cases soaring  as indicated Thursday when the highest single day figure ever reported was announced (55,220).

And the final falsehood, that according to the present administration, the increased number of new cases now being reported is just the result of more testing rather than the beginning of a resurgence of the virus due to the relaxing of precautionary measures.  Dr. Sten Vermund, dean of the Yale School of Public Health pretty much sums up this theory when he states, “Just speaking as an epidemiologist, if I saw rising testing, rising case numbers, and declining hospitalizations and deaths, I would say that Donald Trump and Vice President Pence are correct.  Conversely, if those measures are rising, I would say that they are blowing smoke.”

Sadly the hospitalization rates are rising once again, but fortunately death rates are holding steady due to the discovery of better ways to treat the disease along with drugs that assist in the recovery.  Consequently, both these statistics do not the support the “more testing” theory.

Each of us now has a choice to make.  We can bury our heads in the sand and continue to deny the existence of this health crisis, or we can actively alter our life styles and attempt to mitigate the consequences of COVID-19.   It’s time for a reality check.  It ain’t going away any time soon.  Wear a mask!