This is what it really looks like under a electron microscope:
Does it change any magats minds that it’s real and causes real death? Highly doubtful. That’s the scariest part in all this. Those folks have been brainwashed into believing its no big thing primarily because they simply can’t see it and they’ve been told its better to get it to build immunity even if it kills them in the process.
First thing we need to do as a country is completely deprogram these people like those in a cult from the propaganda tRump and his cronies have spread as we tackle this pandemic. Repetitive public service announcements, increase in spending for community based public health departments to offer auxiliary care, education and support needs to happen. An entire public health education campaign to assist those that still don’t understand the science. These people need to get on board to slow this thing down even if we all can’t stand where they’re coming from. We need to do this to tackle this thing or the pandemic will simply continue to spread unabated.
people are missing their chemotherapy treatments because of COVID and things are being missed in diagnosing other illnesses because Tele-health/zoom visits are not the same as an in person assessment by your physician…who’s organization really doesn’t want you to come in for a real workup.
It looks as if the daily-case numbers may be stabilizing around 150K compared to under 50K in late summer and early fall. If that stabilization happens, and if medical facilities can cope with the resulting hospitalization level (very much an if), then you would expect deaths to stabilize at about 3x the 1,000 per day of our previous plateau/foothill.
When one 9/11 a day is the optimistic scenario. All because trump thought masks looked icky and jared and his pals noticed the pandemic was hitting democrats and people of color hardest at first.
I don’t know where we’re going to find someone that gives a damn about stopping it before this actually happens, but at the rate we’re going, we’ll lose a good portion of Americans in the near term.
How the party of pro-life allows this to go on is astonishing.
Even better is to remove those cultists from positions of power so that we CAN do something about this.
Wisconsin is one of those and, unfortunately due to severe gerrymandering, nearly all the GOP legislature was re-elected with some not even having to campaign. Vos is making some noise about wanting to do something, but his words are nothing at this point.
Wisconsin legislature has not met in session since April:
That’s where I have a big problem with all of us and most especially the mainstream media.
No one calls them out on the hypocrisy. No one discredits them. The pro-lifers are allowed to go on, unchallenged, every single day on every single issue, starting with kids in cages and shutting down the ACA through the red-State response to COVID.
It’s one of the perqs they get for wrapping themselves in the flag and religion. Its churlish and rude to attack such committed patriots and believers. I think the news media is suffering from end stage sentimentalism.
I think often about how evolutionary forces that promoted human survival shaped human behavior and culture. Living in small groups and sharing an identity must have increased the probability of human survival and that behavioral trait would have had increased in populations. Going against the group would have generally been suppressed. Now it’s both ironic and deadly that by staying with the beliefs and cultural values of your tribe, you are more likely to spread and/or suffer the effects of Covid.
Also, while we humans are capable of extraordinary abilities to understand and address complex problems and develop solutions for them, we also evolved to respond to real or perceived short term threats to our well-being or survival. What good was it to the hunter gatherer living in a cave to have enough meat stored for the winter if he couldn’t escape the saber toothed cat or cave bear? So we react to what seems to be the most immediate threat even if it works against our self interest in the long run. If you’re in the path of a hurricane or a forest fire, then suddenly Covid is less immediate threat. If you lost your job or feel threatened by another group, that takes precedence over worrying about a disease or climate change. A difficult paradox.
The doctors also expressed concern that rising COVID-19 cases which have begun to fill hospitals will completely overwhelm medical faciilities in short order.
Which, as we know from here in NYC, increases the death toll by adding in untreated covid cases and folks whose deaths from other conditions would have been prevented by medical care.
That this is our national outcome is horrific.
ETA: I see @srfromgr hit the point first.
“a number that could be topped by up to 2,000 by Christmas”
What are the estimates for hospitalizations? People in recovery? Serious long term or permanent affictions?
What about the the number of beds available, personnel counts and the long term estimate of maintaining and meeting that.
And then talk about all the other health issues left on the table and exacerbated because normal medical care is interrupted both by Covid demand and people deferring to prevent exposure?
Deaths are not the real picture of this problem. They are the shiny ball in reporting but are only one horrific point in many.
