Maximum Carnage Week Game Thread

Covid musings from a Doc in Wyoming:

1. Obviously, the loss of 260,000 plus people is horrible but given the average age is 78 with two plus serious medical conditions, it is important to look at how many would have died from their underlying conditions or other illnesses like influenzas during the same time period. The media does not state “260,000 EXCESS DEATHS for the year,” just deaths that have Covid somewhere on the death certificate. Covid could the on the first line (immediate cause of death) or one of the other five lines in order of importance (contributor). To understand this fact, one must examine on the CDC and other various sites the long-term death rates this year compared to previous years.
2. Our reaction to the virus will cause far more damage to lives than the virus itself. Social isolation, economic devastation, and paralyzing anxiety will cause decades of problems which range from suicide to domestic violence to higher levels of alcohol related disease and destruction. We are raising an entire generation of neurotic children.
3. Historically, physicians have rarely listed influenza as a cause of death. They have listed the cause of death due to the complications from influenza such as pneumonia. I have never seen influenza listed on a DC. This fact makes comparison to Covid difficult, so total deaths must be examined on an annual basis.
4. I do support the vaccine mainly because it will make people feel more secure and it will help us get back to normal. However, immunity from having had the disease is better protection than the vaccine.
5. If there is a wake-up call here, it is to get yourself into a healthy lifestyle. That means getting your weight down, exercising EVERY day, adopting a majority plant-based diet, swearing off fast food/processed food, stopping tobacco/vaping in any form, and adopting a cat or dog. This is another area our education system has failed—not teaching a healthy lifestyle.
6. Masks and social distancing may delay infection but people who will get Covid will eventually. The vaccines will help prevent infection but really are most significant for the obese, the elderly, and the infirmed. For everyone else, it is almost irrelevant. Remember that a “case” or “infection” is JUST a positive test. It has no relevance to severity.
7. Stop dumb public health rules. They make public health folks look irrational. For example, closing restaurants at 10 PM is silly. How does that make sense given restaurants are the busiest at 7 PM? I am not favoring closing restaurants. High risk people should just not go to them.
8. Please stop the fear of surfaces. Even the CDC has stated they are not a problem. Yes, washing your hands but that is good for preventing Covid, flu and other diseases but most of that is from shaking hands or handling money. It is nice to see men washing their hands in public bathrooms. Covid has certainly changed that behavior!
9. Health care worker need to reduce the drama. We work with tuberculosis, HIV, strep and staph, and multiple other disease that are far worse than Covid. Yes, right now the work is hard with long hours but that is what we signed up for and which we are paid well.
10. Listen to the news media with a critical ear. The news media has a mantra “if it bleeds, it leads.” This is their way to entice an audience which increases their advertising dollars. Our school systems have failed horribly by emphasizing memory instead of critical thinking. Every time you listen to the news, you should be asking “does that make sense?”
Pet your dog!