SD Becoming political

I’m hearing stories from people I know of Covid deniers mocking social distancing and making people feel uncomfortable. DD‘s friend’s mom is a cancer survivor and very high risk, but her relative came over and would not wear a mask, although they suggested it, and even coughed and joked that she might have Covid. Seems she’s not buying it… Another friend in New York, near the epicenter of this, has A neighbor who is posting all sorts of stuff on FB and doesn’t respect SD And tries to get near themh, although he knows very well how they feel. It is really depressing and disturbing to me that it’s becoming a red/blue issue, when we are relying on other people to do the right thing. UGH.

It’s been political since the get go. I think the protests and refusal to wear masks is ridiculous. On the other hand, if one questions whether the lockdowns were the best public health measures or whether the media has distorted information to play up paranoia and one is accused of being a Trump supporter, which If anyone has read any of my political posts, is ridiculous.

There is no question that covid is multiple times more serious than the flu, but the survival rate is over 99 percent, with an estimated IFR between .2 and .8. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...say-yes-by-far Between 50,000 and 95,000 Americans died from a severe strain of the flu in 2017, how many people even know the flu was an issue that year? Italy also hard hit that years with over 50,000 deaths. Deaths from viruses has long claimed tens of thousands, but it our politicized culture, it’s as if it has never happened before.

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Originally Posted by westwoodmom04

It’s been political since the get go. I think the protests and refusal to wear masks is ridiculous. On the other hand, if one questions whether the lockdowns were the best public health measures or whether the media has distorted information to play up paranoia and one is accused of being a Trump supporter, which If anyone has read any of my political posts, is ridiculous.

There is no question that covid is multiple times more serious than the flu, but the survival rate is over 99 percent, with an estimated IFR between .2 and .8. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...say-yes-by-far Between 50,000 and 95,000 Americans died from a severe strain of the flu in 2017, how many people even know the flu was an issue that year? Italy also hard hit that years with over 50,000 deaths. Deaths from viruses has long claimed tens of thousands, but it our politicized culture, it’s as if it has never happened before.

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Comparing covid to the flu deaths in 2017 is laughable. First of all, the flu deaths are estimated not actual. Second, those deaths are over 6 months, not 2 months. And we have had hard core social distancing and lockdowns in that time (no school across the country!!!!), so deaths would be much higher if business proceeded as usual.


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Originally Posted by westwoodmom04

It’s been political since the get go. I think the protests and refusal to wear masks is ridiculous. On the other hand, if one questions whether the lockdowns were the best public health measures or whether the media has distorted information to play up paranoia and one is accused of being a Trump supporter, which If anyone has read any of my political posts, is ridiculous.

There is no question that covid is multiple times more serious than the flu, but the survival rate is over 99 percent, with an estimated IFR between .2 and .8. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...say-yes-by-far Between 50,000 and 95,000 Americans died from a severe strain of the flu in 2017, how many people even know the flu was an issue that year? Italy also hard hit that years with over 50,000 deaths. Deaths from viruses has long claimed tens of thousands, but it our politicized culture, it’s as if it has never happened before.

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Yes I believe it has been political from the get go. If there was a Democrat in office I am sure it would be just as political (although I am sure SD might have been a smoother start because there would’ve been no arguments over how to start) and the same right sided people who seem to be protesting would still be protesting. I do find it interesting that there is a subset of conservative, educated, have some religious faith, and well paid people who I know who support Trump but are all pro social distantly and are the group of FB friends who are all over home schooling next year. I have differed in some political views from you over the years, but I have agreed with every covid post you have posted here. I thank you for your insight and articles you have posted.


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Originally Posted by georgiegirl

Comparing covid to the flu deaths in 2017 is laughable. First of all, the flu deaths are estimated not actual. Second, those deaths are over 6 months, not 2 months. And we have had hard core social distancing and lockdowns in that time (no school across the country!!!!), so deaths would be much higher if business proceeded as usual.


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Actually that isn’t quite right, most of the excess deaths in 2017 occurred over a 4 month period and we are entering month 4 with covid creating excess deaths. And I gave a range of deaths for the flu because the exact number of cases is not known- it’s an estimate based on excess deaths just as people are now looking at excess deaths to see if covid tests are capturing all the cases.

In any case, you missed my point. I’m not saying that covid is the same as the flu, in fact, my post said that it was several times worse, BUT even with it being worse, 99 percent of people still survive covid. My other point is that viruses commonly cause tens of thousands of deaths in this country without any even noticing or changing their behavior in the least. I certainly never heard a thing about 2017 being an usually bad flu year that killed over 50,000 Americans until this year. One of the things that is different here is the media’s 24/7 focus.

I am for people wearing masks and social distancing, but I do think that many people have completely lost track of the actual risk from this virus, mostly because of all the “pandemic porn” churned out by the media.

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Originally Posted by westwoodmom04

Actually that isn’t quite right, most of the excess deaths in 2017 occurred over a 4 month period and we are entering month 4 with covid creating excess deaths. And I gave a range of deaths for the flu because the exact number of cases is not known- it’s an estimate based on excess deaths just as people are now looking at excess deaths to see if covid tests are capturing all the cases.

In any case, you missed my point. I’m not saying that covid is the same as the flu, in fact, my post said that it was several times worse, BUT even with it being worse, 99 percent of people still survive covid. My other point is that viruses commonly cause tens of thousands of deaths in this country without any even noticing or changing their behavior in the least. I certainly never heard a thing about 2017 being an usually bad flu year that killed over 50,000 Americans until this year. One of the things that is different here is the media’s 24/7 focus.

I am for people wearing masks and social distancing, but I do think that many people have completely lost track of the actual risk from this virus, mostly because of all the “pandemic porn” churned out by the media.

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I don't know that this is true. I think we're all just in this bubble of privilege. My sister in Arlington knows five high school students, two of whom that were hospitalized. They were all Latino. It has hit them very hard. And they were teenagers. I don't think we understand the mechanisms at play here. I have to admit, I still don't understand how the flu becomes so deadly either. Every time I see these flu stats it DOES make me do a double take, in light of what I've seen with Coronavirus.

Come on now, no way would it have been so divisive under a normal president. This one literally uses the mask as a political symbol, so let's not normalize this divisiveness.
Plus, needless to say, there would have been a much smoother start under a functioning administration, republican OR democrat.

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Originally Posted by bisous

I don't know that this is true. I think we're all just in this bubble of privilege. My sister in Arlington knows five high school students, two of whom that were hospitalized. They were all Latino. It has hit them very hard. And they were teenagers. I don't think we understand the mechanisms at play here. I have to admit, I still don't understand how the flu becomes so deadly either. Every time I see these flu stats it DOES make me do a double take, in light of what I've seen with Coronavirus.

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I think the issue with the flu, is that it can settle into the lungs and then cause pneumonia. My youngest DS has severe lung issues, so we do the flu shot every year. I know it does not always prevent one from getting the flu, but can make the symptoms less severe. A few years when the flu was bad he caught it. It was literally a 3 week process for him and involved 2 hospital visits. Meanwhile, my older son got the flu as well at the exact same time, and he bounced back in a few days. I think anyone with underlying health conditions (especially those with heart or lung issues) are always at risk from "basic" illnesses. I never really understood it until I had a son that falls into those high risk categories. Before him, we never got the flu shot, and never worried about the flu or getting sick. Most people don't take the flu seriously, but it really can be deadly for many people.