Reply to BA.2 surge hitting US in April/May

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The delusional twitter doctor who was peddling his book about how mask policies had failed and was arguing that masks were ineffective?  Yeah that one is off the rails.[/quote]

No, the Twitter epidemiologists and doctors who built their social media profiles off of Covid hysteria. They fear losing relevancy and have a vested interest in pushing doom and gloom. [/quote]

Right, Covid is no big deal despite killing mil,ions around the world.  Must be nice to have your privilege.[/quote]

It was reported that Maryland has crossed the 14,000 deaths from COVID benchmark recently. It did make me pause because it seems like a very low number relative to what we went through in the last two years. There are more than 6,000,000 Marylanders, and the 14k deaths were heavily concentrated among the elderly with health issues. I'm sure a decent percentage would have likely died by now from something else had they never gotten infected from COVID.

[b]When I see the cold hard numbers in front of me, it does make me realize how much of what we went through in the last two years was driven by little more than hysteria and fear far more than what was needed. We'd have been much better off with a very different approach to COVID targeted to the high risk demographics[/b].[/quote]

This.  Also compare the numbers to other causes of death.  Can you imagine how much better off if we had instead focused on reducing obesity across the country?  [/quote]

Are you crazy? Do you know how many more people would have died if we had just let it rip? Not to mention collateral damage from hospitals being constantly overwhelmed. The numbers you are looking at resulted from the policy you’re pooh poohing.[/quote]

No, not the exact number. But I do know the vast majority would have been elderly and that we wouldn’t have a problem with social security or medicare anymore.[/quote]

WTAF! Do you hear yourself. Please don’t pass this ageist shit on to your kids. [/quote]

My kids know dying is a natural part of life. It is troubling that you don’t seem to acknowledge that.[/quote]

What is troubling is your non-sensical response. The pp is smug that older adults are dying because it solves a political problem. Societies are best with a mix of age ranges. It has nothing to do with acknowledging/denying death. It is ageist and will bite you in the ass if you’re lucky enough. [/quote]

Let’s be real- societies are best with a mix of age ranges up to a point. After about 65-70 years old, the age group is a net drag on society. That’s not to say there aren’t some contributing members of society at that age, but their costs greatly outweigh their benefits.[/quote]

I hope you pop off at 65 years and one day, jerk.[/quote]

Struck a nerve I see. But I notified you didn’t claim I’m actually wrong. Old people die from a variety of causes- covid is just one more thing. And there’s no great societal harm from a small uptick in geriatric death rates.[/quote]

I am 63 and healthy and my husband 67 also healthy.  No obesity or any other medical conditions.  Bring it on.  We stopped wearing our masks as soon as allowed and intend to live life normally despite any surge.  We traveled to NYC and attended large unmasked gatherings in December.  Neither of us has had it...we are probably immune!!  I have a teenager (I know I am old for that) who never stopped going to school and is unmasked in school.  We are all vaccinated.  The only thing we should be looking at at this point is hospitalizations, and that will not likely be an issue this time.  And we now know that masks are useless...especially with this new variant.  Bring in on.[/quote]

My 90 year old diabetic father feels the same way...does not make him right.[/quote]

But how do you define right in this situation? We’re talking about how best to manage risk. That’s not an either/or. It’s a spectrum.

I know a lot of people who think we should be taking a very conservative approach “until it’s over”. Masking in indoor places even when case rates are very low, vaccine mandates, limit group sizes, mask all kids, limit certain indoor activities. I respect that this how they feel and I’m not saying they are “wrong” — it’s true that these things will all help you avoid Covid, and I get that some people are especially concerned about long Covid.

But while everyone I know like this will say they are at least partially motivated by wanting to protect more vulnerable people, they aren’t members of this more vulnerable group. They are relatively young, vaccinated, no immune deficiencies. Some might be mildly overweight or have asthma or a complicating factor that would make them slightly more vulnerable. Some have kids under 5 who they will argue are uniquely vulnerable because they can’t vaccinate.

But I have a kid under 5, and everything I read about Covid rates in young kids places it as slightly more concerning than other common preschool viruses (because it’s novel) but less threatening than the possibility of her getting hit by a car by crap drivers (4 young kids in our area have been hit in the last year, and one killed). I don’t want her to get Covid and we take precautions, but if she got it she has a better than 99% chance of recovering fine. I don’t lose sleep over this. I have a close friend whose DD has RSV at this age and developed a long term lung issue. It sucks, but since I was aware of that before Covid even existed, it lives in the category of stuff I can’t perfectly control. I accept it.

And everyone I know who is uniquely vulnerable to Covid has a less cautious approach to Covid than the group above. Friend who’s kid has lung capacity issues from RSV? That DD wears a K94 to school but the others don’t, they test frequently but they travel and go out to eat and socialize normally with friends. Another friend on lifelong immunosuppressants (organ recipient) masks at the grocery store but doesn’t care if others do, was a huge advocate for in person school during closures. Family member with heart disease (multiple bypass surgeries) won’t wear medical grade masks because they are uncomfortable, and travels because he doesn’t want to waste time. Another family member whose spouse died of Covid feels the same about travel and eating out — time is short, risks are worth it.

The people advocating for the most cautious approach are not automatically right. They don’t speak for all vulnerable people, or even most vulnerable people. Outside places like DC, there are lots of liberal, science-believing people who think we need a balanced approach to Covid, that we need to accept some risk in favor of doing right by our kids, enjoying life, and caring for our mental health.

Your 90 year old dad is not wrong. He has different priorities than you. He is assessing risk in a different way.[/quote]

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