Blog: Coronavirus COVID19

By now, almost the entire world has felt the effects of COVID19. I don�t really need to tell you what it is, or the disruption and damage it has caused. I just want to talk about WHY it has caused so much trouble. This virus and disease isn�t particularly deadly (the mortality rate doesn�t seem to be much higher than the flu), in fact you might even get the virus and never know you even had it. Those that do feel its symptoms will usually just feel like they have a bad case of the flu. Generally, the only people that really need to worry (for their lives) are people with pre-existing conditions or are elderly. Usually, these people already know they are susceptible to illness, and can keep away from people who may get them sick. THIS is why COVID19 is dangerous�

I could give you plenty of numbers, examples, and quotes. Then lay them out all nice and neat to try to explain or convince you of my opinion, but I am going to try to refrain from doing that. If you care about the actual data around the coronavirus situation, you likely already have that information (and probably agree with my opinions). If you don�t care, well, you don�t care and any data I present likely won�t even matter to you. So, on to the opinions:

The real problem is actually 2 similar problems with the same results. First, as already mentioned, you can get the virus and never know you have/had it. The estimates range from 20% to 50% of the people that get infected go completely symptomless. These people can still be contagious. The second problem is that the people that do suffer symptoms are contagious before the symptoms present. In either case, people that are at risk to complications or death from COVID19 cannot tell who to avoid. Since most of the deaths have been elderly and people with pre-existing conditions, it�s not much of a stretch to think this is why it wasn�t easily avoided. Had the person that passed it on to them had the flu, the person that died likely wouldn�t have even caught it to begin with. It probably would have been noticed, and appropriately handled.

If it�s not clear by now, I am not worried about this virus or disease. I�m not saying it isn�t bad, I�m saying it�s not as bad as everyone is saying. The media would have you believe this is a terrible, deadly, civilization ending pandemic. It�s not. When you look at the numbers objectively, my previous �bad flu� references hold their ground. Let�s be honest though. If someone you care about is sick or worse from COVID19, you don�t care about the numbers or being objective, and I get that. I don�t personally know anyone that has contracted this virus, and I don�t know anyone that would have complications, except for some of the oldest members of my family. Even though I don�t believe this will be a problem for me-and-mine and I don�t think it is as big of an issue as it has been made out to be, I do fully understand the measures being taken by our leaders to prevent further spread of this virus. In fact, most of these measures line up to help with what I believe is the true problem concerning this virus: It can be passed on without any symptoms present.

One last note: While I do carry a somewhat cavalier view of this virus, I want to make it clear that I do see the seriousness of the situation. I realize this is not simply the flu, but I also realize we don�t need to panic. We will get through this and life will go on as normal after.