My plea to society
By Letter to the Editor on April 9, 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic is no joke. Too many people are dying from the virus because of idiots who are selfish and don’t care. They do not follow the guidelines and self-isolate. People crowd in lines to get into stores and checkouts. People go to stores multiple times in a day (one lady behind me said, “It wasn’t like that this morning”). People need to distance, even when walking past each other. Be aware of people around you, protect yourselves and others, and don’t congregate.
Health-care officials and I would like this pandemic to end as soon as possible, but we all realize that this will not happen in the next few weeks. How soon will it be over? That magic question depends on every one of us to find the magic answer. If we cut all contact all over the country and the world, the pandemic could be finished by fall, but that measure would be extreme for most. Consequently, it will drag on and we might see things going till Christmas. Hopefully our families will be able to celebrate a Joyful, merry healthy Christmas together.
A big controversy has been the masks. They are for health-care workers and people who do not want to spread the virus to other people. If you really want to isolate yourself from others, stay home and don’t let anyone visit you. The other solution is the plastic bubble, like the kid in the movie, or a space suit. Both of those require support equipment, so you need a cart to drag them around. A scarf or other covering is just as good for going out and they keep you warm in cold weather and are stylish.
Our future can be a lot worse if we don’t get over this. Travel may be restricted, like the eastern countries requiring permits to visit other provinces or cities. With borders being forced to close, there may be rationing requirements, like that for medications, which is already in place. In one country you can be shot if you go outside.
This is a world-changing virus. Our future will be different. Our vacationing plans will be vastly changing with health checks or quarantines, similar to smallpox of the past. So do me and others a favour, stay away, stay distant, stay home, give me a call to tell me you’re OK and stay healthy.
God bless you all and give you your health.
R.B. Walter Kerber
Lethbridge
10-9
RB, it would do you good and calm your concerns if you would investigate actual data on Alberta, Canada and world mortality. I am not minimizing the staggering number of deaths related to covid quoted by media(some 125,000 total or a bit over 1000/day for its 4-ish month run to date) but you will find this number plus other viral and pneumonia deaths are typical for annual global flu and pneumonia deaths, if not lower than most recent years. I attach a link discussing US influenza mortality for example. The big issue, as discussed in this linked article, is the apparent lack of a vaccine for this covid flu at present and this understandably makes forecasting its impact uncertain. https://www.livescience.com/new-coronavirus-compare-with-flu.html
Global mortality from all causes is currently in the 170,000/day range for context. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortality_rate