Is the COVID cure worse than the pandemic itself?
By Letter to the Editor on July 20, 2020.
Today, the cloth mask is seen everywhere. In reference to stopping airborn droplets, they are useful, but do not hinder the passage of viruses (as stated on many face mask boxes).
As a matter of fact, Canada’s Dr. Theresa Tam unequivocally stated in March “putting a mask on an asymtomatic person is not benefical, obviously if you’re not infected.” As well, during the same time, America’s Dr. Anthony Fauci stated on CBS’s 60 minutes, “There’s no reason to be walking around with a mask.” Shortly after, both doctors did an about turn, and fully endorsed the wearing of a mask. It has been observed by some contrarian experts that, to put it casually, “something’s up.”
Along with the mask, we have “self-isolation,” staying a body length from our fellow citizens, and having as little physcial contact in any way, shape or form with other persons. This is concerning to all factions of the population. As an example, The Herald’s 10 July article “Survey says kids’ social lives concern parents” mentions, “The results suggest that 71 per cent of participants are very or extremely concerned about their children’s opportunities to socialize with friends, and more than half are really worried about their kids being lonely or socially isolated.”
What are we doing? Is it worth it, and is it possible that this has been overblown? Consider Bill Gates, himself admitting that earlier SARS and MERS were more lethal than COVID-19, yet they came and went, without crashing the economy and severely impacting the functioning of society.
I will leave it up to the expert researchers why these draconian measures have been taken up by governments, but I would like to suggest that the so-called “cures” to this pandemic are vastly worse than the problem itself. Living fully and freely carries a normal level of risk, and reasonable and common-sense actions should be taken, commensurate with each situation. Concerning this present circumstance, we should at least be asking if this is the case.
Shawn Christopher Smith
Lethbridge
9-8
[…] Is the COVID cure worse than the pandemic itself? Lethbridge Herald “self isolation when:1h” – Google News […]
On the positive side, wearing a mask prevents the wearer from touching his/her mouth and nose, thereby to a degree, preventing infection. From that view, it does protect the wearer to a high degree.
Nah. They’ll just find another orifice to probe. lol
hey shawn, you can consider moving south and snuggling up with another denier, orange trump. it seems the 10k new cases happening daily in florida are fake news. and it seems a lot easier to travel to the usa for whatever reason you make up at the airport: i know one younger lady who flew out of calgary to her boyfriend in florida a month ago…was told she needed to quarantine for 2 weeks lol but no one checks on that….then another guy who flew to las vegas a few weeks, gambled, traveled around a little, and then flew back…quarantine for 2 weeks but no one checks.
this so-called essential travel only is a bs. seems any story should get you there, especially if flying, and you tell them family is involved.
now, we can argue that corona does not hurt most people. however, the ones that do get slammed by it at its worst either die, or wish they could. the ones that do recover – and no, they are not all old and nor do they deserve to expire anyway – share how long and miserable was their experience.
your choice to wear a mask or not; but i feel when we are indoors in businesses where the air is static, congested and even recycled, we should be wearing masks until we get a handle on corona. same when outdoors where spacing is tight. it really is a minor inconvenience. there are still ignorant people coughing into thin air…while they are the few it doesn’t take many.
sars and mers and all the others are each unique. there appears to be a concern with corona mutating, and with people losing immunity over time after having recovered.
seth – funny comment!
Biff,
Given that the author didn’t make any sort of “denial” comment, then why are you calling him a denier? Also, nothing relevant he said was incorrect.
The number of cases rising as things open is an inevitably. It is after all a contagious virus. The number of new cases is mainly irrelevant. What’s important, is what affect does the virus have on most of the population? The answer to that, is “very little”. The other main important issue is the destruction caused by throwing millions out of work who are at little to no risk, to which the author mentioned.
As I’ve said, it was well known from the start that this virus generally has only significant effects on a very tiny portion of the population. As such, the economy (people’s well being) should not have been shut down. Only the vulnerable should have isolated, while the rest used PPE.
The expert is the mathematical evidence and the empirical evidence. If you have something to refute said evidence, then please present it.
Who said we should have done nothing?
The “economy” is directly related to people’s well being.
Your comment about the kids shows your limited scope in understanding the effects of a lockdown on kids. If you care to research it, you might want to start with the large spike in domestic violence that the lockdown has caused (which includes kids). It gets worse from there.
No, YOU just have your own take on the severity and it’s after effects…5 months into it.
Shawn suggests we should have ‘lived freely’ (done nothing) during the last few months.
Some businesses thrived during the lockdown. The Government provided a cushion so hard working people like myself could isolate for some time and not worry about the bills.
Show me your domestic violence stats. I think you’ve over-blown it.
“Parents are concerned kids are bored and aren’t getting enough socialization”..so what?
My mother had to nightly head for cover while the Germans bombed Britain in WWII
I have little sympathy for anybody locked in (except poor seniors in rest homes).
Suck it up! Do the right thing!
..except Seth says ‘My Body My Choice’. Sure, just respect others.
Excuse me? I do not have “my own take on the severity”. Again, my conclusions are based on the science and the empirical evidence.
Shawn’s exact words were, “Living fully and freely carries a normal level of risk, and reasonable and common-sense actions should be taken, commensurate with each situation”. No where does that say to “do nothing” as you claim. Furthermore, living freely does not imply that individuals shouldn’t practice PPE, etc.
By claiming “My body, My choice” does not imply the lack of respect for others. In fact, it implies the exact opposite, as true respect is allowing others to have free domain over their body.
In regards to the significant rise in domestic violence due to the lockdown, here’s a few examples. Note that domestic violence is only one of many negative social characteristics as a result of throwing millions into unemployment. There is still the rise in addiction rates, addiction deaths, and suicides caused by the lockdown. Aside from the social destruction, there is the massive amount of bankruptcies, as well as billions in debt that has been incurred. This will result in reduced services and/or higher taxes that will inevitably harm the lower income people even further then they are now.
“Calls to Vancouver domestic-violence crisis line spike 300% amid COVID-19 pandemic”
https://globalnews.ca/news/6789403/domestic-violence-coronavirus/
Advocates scramble to help domestic abuse victims as calls skyrocket during COVID-19
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/advocates-scramble-to-help-domestic-abuse-victims-as-calls-skyrocket-during-covid-19-1.4923109
Minister says COVID-19 is empowering domestic violence abusers as rates rise in parts of Canada
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/domestic-violence-rates-rising-due-to-covid19-1.5545851
A spike in domestic violence happening in Toronto due to COVID-19 experts say
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/04/28/news/spike-domestic-violence-happening-toronto-due-covid-19-experts-say
A spike, but nothing unmanageable, Dramatize it all you want.
The lock down was warranted. Even if it loses steam, we are still bracing for the unknown.
“”“My body, My choice” does not imply the lack of respect for others. In fact, it implies the exact opposite, as true respect is allowing others to have free domain over their body.”
As long as you social distance 6ft. and wear a mask if you can’t..have your ‘free domain’ ::rolleyes::
Wow. You just called beating up woman and children “manageable”. Un-freakin-believable.
Furthermore, you ignored all the other consequences of a lockdown that I mentioned in my previous post.
No, a lockdown (and the destruction it causes) was not needed. All that was needed was support for the vulnerable to self isolate, and mandatory mask wearing, distancing, hand sanitizing , etc, for everyone else.
Anything to make you look good, Seth, but lay off the drama.
Again, I’ll go with what Bill says…”The lock down allowed us to avoid many millions of deaths and extreme overload of the hospitals, which would also have increased deaths from other causes.”
You can have your scenario (which, of course, we can’t go back and try.)
I’ll stick to the reality.