Confusing Corona Contagions

I am not a communicable disease expert, but I am completely baffled by this new “Pandemic” and what the government is doing to combat it.

At the beginning I accepted, in fact I applauded, stopping visitors suspected of carrying the virus. I was never in favor of closing down businesses but, dutifully, I accepted this in the spirit of, “These guys know a lot more about this than I do, I’ll comply and see what happens.”

I became more concerned when I started hearing rumors, then seeing reports and videos, stating that many non-Covid 19 cases were being classified as Covid 19 (On April 21st it was reported that hospitals were being paid more for Covid 19 deaths, May 21st it was reported that gunshot victims in Washington were being added to the Covid 19 death count). Why, I asked, if this disease is so strong, so easily spread, are they fabricating numbers, I was more confused.

Why has the entire country’s workforce been shutdown when a large majority of those dying are over 65 and many of the victims had other serious health problems. I saw one report that less than 1,000 of the victims were under 55 years old when 89,000 victims were over 55 years old (CDC statistics). I am in the older group (Unfortunately) but, I fear, shutting down the country’s economic machine for this long will have catastrophic results. I have read that suicides, depression, domestic violence and other violent crimes are rising.

I ran a successful business for two years. I always had money enough to pay all of my bills and enjoy a few luxuries. I could not have gone more than two weeks without any money coming in. I fear for the small businesses. I also worry about large businesses that might not have been very solvent. It is, in my opinion, unrealistic to expect businesses to bounce back after being closed so long.

In my small business I had inventory, rent, electricity, gas, salaries, and more that all had to be paid. Some of these bills would go down if the building was closed, but with zero coming in, any bill would be hard to pay.

I am confused about schools being closed, and many governors refusing to say when they might re-open. Children are very low on the list of probable victims.

I am confused about how the governors of many states are handling the re-openings. In my state, Illinois, our governor has set out guidelines that no more than 12 can gather safely, but if they are protesting 100 may gather. Does the virus have a political agenda? Is there scientific proof that if you’re protesting you are less likely to be infected?

I had a discussion with a friend whose opinion I value. He argued, “What if a second wave comes? We should stay quarantined until we are sure, until there is a cure.” My response is, “We can’t live in fear, there is still no cure for many diseases, cancer, aids how long should/could this quarantine last?

I have many friends in the restaurant and bar business who are struggling through this, they have told me that they can’t struggle much longer.”

I am thinking of the saying “He won the battle, but lost the war.” We may slow the spread of Covid 19 and destroy an economy that was the strongest it has been in years. Yeah, I lost my job and my home. I don’t know if I’ll be able to eat tonight, but at least I don’t have Covid 19.