Paul Stewart: Issues Hit Home When You Know Someone

Paul, I am sorry to hear about the death of Ms. Morrissey.

I could be wrong but I think the quote "A single death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic" is attributed to Josef Stalin, the person singly responsible for more deaths than anyone else in the 20th Century and probably in human history. Basically what this means is that while a person still has a conscience, at least some amount of empathy, and lacks sociopathy a single death of anyone, including someone they do not know, can bother them. Once they totally lose these even millions of deaths no longer phases them.

In my case my youngest cousin (26 years old) actually got the covid-19 virus. She has always had a weak immune system. It took her eight weeks and four trips to the emergency room to get over it and she said that it was the worst illness she ever had.

The issue has never been whether things were taken seriously. The issue is whether the cure has been worse than the disease, which strictly from a numerical POV is indisputable.

The issue has never been whether things were taken seriously. The issue is whether the cure has been worse than the disease, which strictly from a numerical POV is indisputable.
- DeuceNine

To Stewie, sorry to hear about Ms. Morrisey.

My 21 year old niece had it. Started feeling it on a Sunday in late March. Got tested Wednesday after that and they told her it was regular flu. They called her on Saturday to tell her that she actually did test positive for the virus. By that time, she was feeling completely fine.

It does appear that the older a person is, the more dangerous this bug is. In PA, where the Governor ordered nursing homes to take in COVID patients, nearly 70% of our fatalities are in those homes. Back in mid March, we didn't know much about it and had legitimate concerns about overwhelming the healthcare system. I think a temporary shutdown was warranted. Within 2 to 3 weeks, we knew that would not happen. Within a month, we knew who was most affected by it. Having that knowledge, everything should have opened up with guidelines for social distancing, masks, etc. and the vulnerable people being sheltered and away from others for a longer time. The costs to everything, not just economically, but for other healthcare needs that were shutdown, has been enormous. We can't just ignore those costs, either. We must find a way to do both: protect the vulnerable AND open our economy up. I think we're finally doing that now here in PA where I live after 3 months. This has been a horrible experience, but we'll get through it.

Can't wait for hockey to start up again.

The issue has never been whether things were taken seriously. The issue is whether the cure has been worse than the disease, which strictly from a numerical POV is indisputable.
- DeuceNine

Sure, it's indisputable if you value money over lives.