Things and More Things

my problem with the argument that “the virus isn't so bad, its only got a 2-5% mortality rate” is that the fatality rate obviously increases significantly for people in older age groups, those with preexisting medical conditions and those with limited access to medical care. so it is very serious in that regard, and the attitude that it isn’t because “most of us will live” is incredibly callous to those who are vulnerable and dismissive of those on the front lines who wont just be overworked but will experience intense psychological distress from being at risk and for their families being at risk.

the other important point that people forget when thinking “most of us will live!” is that while the fatality rate is relatively low for those under the age of 50, many people in all age groups still experience acute cases of the virus and end up needing care in hospital and ICU’s. when the hospitals become overwhelmed with cases (even if the patient survives by the end) and bed shortages happen because virus cases increase, then people who otherwise desperately need those resources because of chronic illnesses like cancer or who need surgery or trauma patients have their care needs compromised. its not just the virus’ effect on the body, it’s the domino effect on vital systems in our infrastructure that disadvantage everyone. 

the argument that the severity of the virus is being exaggerated as a means of expanding government control and benefit companies like amazon are a little ridiculous (like obviously an online store is gonna profit during a time where shopping malls/strips are closed and people can only shop online). I do agree that we always have to be wary of any governments motivation in issues of invasion of privacy and impeding freedoms. but with COVID-19, the country’s hit the worst by the pandemic (like the USA) seem to have been hit worse by it specifically because the government has lost control. by lost control I mean they enforced almost no restrictions on its citizens or acted too late or who allowed misinformation to spread, or who historically have no trust between citizens and government. countries like australia or new zealand had governments who exerted control via strict restrictions and now have almost completely stopped the mass spread of the virus and are now slowly reopening their economies because they took the virus seriously. 

in the case of protests, I do worry a lot that the virus is going to spread rapidly because of so many large groups of people massing in the streets. that being said, I completely understand why the rage over the relentless killing of black people hit a boiling point and people began protesting. though any blame of those protests in spreading covid-19, in my opinion, doesn't lie with the BLM protesters. how could they not rise up and protest after everything? the blame lies in a broken system where the treatment of black lives has been so appallingly fucked up for so long that people are willing to risk their lives during a pandemic to protest against it. that’s indicative of the system failing the people, not the reverse. and regardless, from what I’ve been seeing in the news, the fucking police are a bigger threat to the protesters lives than the virus.