It's Your Health, Can You Stay Safe?

Recently, I saw a Facebook post where the person slammed Nancy Pelosi for not returning to work, where Mitch McConnell had the Senate return. The Congressional doctor, Brian Monahan, recommends that senators and representatives, along with support staff, not return to Congress. Dr. Monahan does not have access to the 15-minute tests that the White House uses. When are people going to understand that COVID-19 is not a political issue and that it's a HEALTH issue? Partisan politics should not even be a factor in this epidemic. All branches of government need to work in the people's interests, not partisan politics. The pandemic is also an economic issue. As of today (May 8, 2020), 20.5 million are out of work. That gives us a 14.7% unemployment rate. People are definitely hurting financially, and I empathize with them. I understand people's fear. They are afraid of getting sick, loss of paychecks to pay their bills, and a myriad of other worries and concerns, including death. Every single person on this planet is facing these issues, and it's scary. That's why we must listen to health experts to stay healthy. Staying safe is why quarantines are in place. It's why employers need to allow their employees to work from remote locations. For those who work in hospitality, working from home is not possible. How can we help people in those industries? What do protestors hope to achieve? I don't believe they understand (or want to understand) the health risks of reopening states and the country. They are so full of Trumpism that they cannot be reasonable. People are dying for cripe's sake. People of all ages and nationalities are impacted. Are they so Trump-enamored that they do not think clearly? If they were reasoning people, we would not have Trump as POTUS, but hey, that's another story for another day. Early on, President Trump did two things that impact Americans. First, he ignored the warnings in December about the rising concern of COVID-19. Then, as Trump does, he personalized the disease and called the outbreak a hoax meant to undermine his presidency. Our commander in chief personalized this outbreak to such an extent that he put millions of lives at risk. He prevents testing kits, masks, gloves, and ventilators from reaching the people who need it most: healthcare professionals and those sick and dying in the hospital. If there is ever proof positive that the Trump administration, and by extension, Republicans don't care about American people, it is the current pandemic. Here are a few comments from Republican leaders and pundits:

Balking at "stay-at-home" and shelter-in-place directives, [Lt. Gov. Dan] Patrick insisted that he was willing to personally die so the U.S. economy could thrive for his grandchildren: "No one reached out to me and said, 'As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that America loves for its children and grandchildren?' And if that is the exchange, I'm all in." He concluded with possibly the stupidest line of the evening: "As the president said, the mortality rate is so low. Do we have to shut down the country?" As reported in Slate magazine, March 24, 2020. This quote is from an interview Patrick had with Tucker Carlson on FOX News. If you don't believe this, you can watch the video for yourself. "And what I said when I was with you that night, there are more important things than living. And that's saving this country for my children and my grandchildren. And saving this country for all of us. And I don't want to die. Nobody wants to die. But man, we've got to take some risks. And get back in the game. And get this country back up and running." Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick as reported by NBC News. "This coronavirus, they're just — all of this panic is just not warranted. This, I'm telling you, when I tell you — when I've told you that this virus is the common cold." Rush Limbaugh on March 11, 2020. You can listen to Limbaugh's comments here. "It is always the American government's position to say, in the choice between the loss of our way of life as Americans and the loss of life, of American lives, we have to always choose the latter." Rep. Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN). His interview is here. So death is preferable to economics? Not in my world, TYVM. This is one of the more ridiculous statements Trump has uttered: "So supposing we hit the body with a tremendous — whether it's ultraviolet or just a potent light — and I think you said that hasn't been checked because of the testing," Trump said, speaking to Bryan during the briefing. "And then I said supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or some other way, and I think you said you're going to test that too." "I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning. As you see, it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that." Donald Trump After Trump made this completely stupid statement, a doctor in Queens, NY, treated a patient after he drank bleach in an attempt to get rid of COVID-19. Did this particular patient have any common sense to know that bleach is harmful to you? Obviously not because he listened to Donald Trump, believed every word he said, and damn near killed himself. Go figure. My friend Steve sums it all up in a nice package: We coulda had a competent leader, but we went with the stupidest, most corrupt, venal, and malign white man possible. 1.3 million cases 77,000 deaths We need to listen to the health professionals who understand how this virus works. Don't listen to the politicians, please. You know yourself better than anyone. Listen to your body and what it is telling you. If you have any one of the risk factors, then stay home. If you have any symptoms, get tested. It's that simple. In closing, I say the following (as copied from Facebook): I will wear a mask in public, not for me, but for YOU. I want you to know that I am educated enough to know that, although I have been very careful, I could be asymptomatic and still give you the virus. I don't "live in fear" of the virus — I just want to be a part of the solution, not the problem. I don't feel the "government is controlling me"; I feel like I'm being a contributing adult to society and I want to teach children the same. I want them to grow up as I did knowing that the world doesn't revolve around me — that it's not all about me and my personal comfort— that if we all could live with the consideration of others in mind, this whole world would be a much better place. Wearing a mask doesn't make me weak, scared, stupid, or even "controlled"; it makes me considerate.

Update

On May 8, 2020, Peter Piot, an epidemiologist, wrote about his experience with COVID-19. He has a terrifying experience with the disease. Mr. Piot is one of the people who discovered the Ebola virus and spent his entire life fighting infectious diseases. He outlines how COVID-19 affects the body. You can read his article on the Science magazine website.

I particularly like this paragraph from the article.

Anyway, I remain a born optimist. And now that I have faced death, my tolerance levels for nonsense and bullshit have gone down even more than before. So, I continue calmly and enthusiastically, although more selectively than before my illness.”

To all the idiots out there, stop with the me me me me attitude. Because it's all about us us us us.