Choices

Recently I read an article about a person who died from COVID-19 who had previously proclaimed the pandemic a hoax. My heart hurts for this person’s family who is having to deal with their grief while also dealing with the public’s “I told you so” fingers as if they had not already learned this lesson in the hardest possible way.

I understand wanting to believe that the numbers, the narrative and the projections are overblown. I admit that in the earliest days of the virus I had my own doubts.  I questioned whether the measures being instituted were necessary, until I dug deeper into the research. For those facing loss of income, bankruptcy and an uncertain future, I fully understand the urge to push back, but viruses do not discriminate. They do not care if you believe in their power or not. They continue to do their job.

The alternate narrative continues to take lives and provide fuel for a movement that dismisses science and wisdom for wants and wishes. While polls imply that most Americans have come to accept the current threat, that old version still acts as a lifeline for a smaller group of people. People pressured by economic impacts. People who do not trust the media. People who do not trust science. Those in doubt point to a lack of testing combined with inaccurate testing that would support a much broader spread rate and therefore a much lower mortality rate. They continue to compare this virus to the flu. Between Feb. 1 and Apr. 18, 2020, there were 5,474 deaths caused by the flu and 21,050 deaths caused by COVID-19 in our country. (Dr. Milton Greenberg sourcing  https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/COVID19/.) Regardless of the lack of accurate testing data, these numbers do not support that comparison.

Over the last few weeks, we have begun to see images of demonstrators gathering across the country protesting the restrictions. A few governors have bowed to that pressure and are relaxing measures against the advice of medical experts. These decisions may cost lives as they jump ahead of the strategic roadmap set by the experts for re-opening and, instead, race toward possible new hot spots.

As the country starts to reopen our doors in the face of this type of conflicting guidance, you still have a choice. You have the choice to listen to the medical experts and continue to follow their guidance. You have the choice to continue practicing social responsibility. I truly hope beyond hope that the next few weeks prove our experts wrong, but until the NIH, CDC and epidemiology experts bless lifting the current restrictions, are you willing to bet someone else’s life on choosing differently?