Re: [FairfieldLife] 'Inducing panic': Media under fire for driving coronavirus hype to epidemic levels

[Share Long sharelon...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]]

 Thanks for this. Good to have all views.Hope you're having a sweet weekend..

On Saturday, March 14, 2020, 9:35:36 PM CDT, Brianna Delott 
briannadel...@gmail.com [FairfieldLife]  wrote:  
 
     

https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/mar/11/media-fueling-coronavirus-panic-under-fire/?fbclid=IwAR1RzTr7T2mVR8iyTf2aLbWBqRXNZWNhrdyx5ftt3QJyFacMWrIvU_M8COE
On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 7:19 PM Dick Mays dickm...@lisco.com [FairfieldLife] 
 wrote:

     

https://www.newsweek.com/young-unafraid-coronavirus-pandemic-good-you-now-stop-killing-people-opinion-1491797?amp=1=IwAR02ASBUmIDXMvtRFN5aOAlCVTd1V5f_EkTD_leIqX5mQpbbF-bJd8_gliEOPINION
I'm a doctor in a major hospital in Western Europe. Watching you Americans (and 
you, Brits) in these still-early days of the coronavirus pandemic is like 
watching a familiar horror movie, where the protagonists, yet again, split into 
pairs or decide to take a tour of a dark basement.

The real-life versions of this behavior are pretending this is just a flu; 
keeping schools open; following through with your holiday travel plans, and 
going into the office daily. This is what we did in Italy. We were so 
complacent that even when people with coronavirus symptoms started turning up, 
we wrote each off as a nasty case of the flu.. We kept the economy going, 
pointed fingers at China and urged tourists to keep traveling. And the majority 
of us told ourselves and each other: this isn't so bad. We're young, we're fit, 
we'll be fine even if we catch it.

Fast-forward two months, and we are drowning. Statistically speaking—judging by 
the curve in China—we are not even at the peak yet, but our fatality rate is at 
over 6 percent, double the known global average.

Put aside statistics.. Here is how it looks in practice. Most of my childhood 
friends are now doctors working in north Italy. In Milan, in Bergamo, in Padua, 
they are having to choose between intubating a 40-year-old with two kids, a 
40-year old who is fit and healthy with no co-morbidities, and a 60-year-old 
with high blood pressure, because they don't have enough beds. In the hallway, 
meanwhile, there are another 15 people waiting who are already hardly breathing 
and need oxygen.

The army is trying to bring some of them to other regions with helicopters but 
it's not enough: the flow is just too much, too many people are getting sick at 
the same time.

We are still awaiting the peak of the epidemic in Europe: probably early April 
for Italy, mid-April for Germany and Switzerland, somewhere around that time 
for the UK. In the U.S., the infection has only just begun.

But until we're past the peak, the only solution is to impose social 
restrictions.

And if your government is hesitating, these restrictions are up to you. Stay 
put. Do not travel. Cancel that family reunion, the promotion party and the big 
night out. This really sucks, but these are special times. Don't take risks. Do 
not go to places where you are more than 20 people in the same room. It's not 
safe and it's not worth it.

But why the urgency, if most people survive?

Here's why: Fatality is the wrong yardstick. Catching the virus can mess up 
your life in many, many more ways than just straight-up killing you. "We are 
all young"—okay. "Even if we get the bug, we will survive"—fantastic. How about 
needing four months of physical therapy before you even feel human again. Or 
getting scar tissue in your lungs and having your activity level restricted for 
the rest of your life. Not to mention having every chance of catching another 
bug in hospital, while you're being treated or waiting to get checked with an 
immune system distracted even by the false alarm of an ordinary flu. No travel 
for leisure or business is worth this risk.

Now, odds are, you might catch coronavirus and might not even get symptoms. 
Great. Good for you. Very bad for everyone else, from your own grandparents to 
the random older person who got on the subway train a stop or two after you got 
off. You're fine, you're barely even sneezing or coughing, but you're walking 
around and you kill a couple of old ladies without even knowing it. Is that 
fair? You tell me.

My personal as well as professional view: we all have a duty to stay put, 
except for very special reasons, like, you go to work because you work in 
healthcare, or you have to save a life and bring someone to hospital, or go out 
to shop for food so you can survive. But when we get to this stage of a 
pandemic, it's really important not to spread the bug. The only thing that 
helps is social restriction. Ideally, the government should issue that 
instruction and provide a financial fallback—compensate business owners, ease 
the financial load on everyone as much as possible and reduce the incentive of 
risking your life or the lives of others just to make ends meet. But if your 
government or company is slow on the uptake, don't be that person. Take 
responsibility. For all but essential movement, 

[FairfieldLife] 'Inducing panic': Media under fire for driving coronavirus hype to epidemic levels

[Brianna Delott briannadel...@gmail.com [FairfieldLife]]

https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/mar/11/media-fueling-coronavirus-panic-under-fire/?fbclid=IwAR1RzTr7T2mVR8iyTf2aLbWBqRXNZWNhrdyx5ftt3QJyFacMWrIvU_M8COE
On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 7:19 PM Dick Mays dickm...@lisco.com
[FairfieldLife]  wrote:

>
>
>
> https://www.newsweek.com/young-unafraid-coronavirus-pandemic-good-you-now-stop-killing-people-opinion-1491797?amp=1=IwAR02ASBUmIDXMvtRFN5aOAlCVTd1V5f_EkTD_leIqX5mQpbbF-bJd8_gliE
> OPINION 
>
> I'm a doctor in a major hospital in Western Europe. Watching you Americans
> 
>  (and
> you, Brits) in these still-early days of the coronavirus pandemic is like
> watching a familiar horror movie, where the protagonists, yet again, split
> into pairs or decide to take a tour of a dark basement.
>
> The real-life versions of this behavior are pretending this is just a flu;
> keeping schools open; following through with your holiday travel plans, and
> going into the office daily. This is what we did in Italy. We were so
> complacent that even when people with coronavirus symptoms started turning
> up, we wrote each off as a nasty case of the flu. We kept the economy
> going, pointed fingers at China and urged tourists to keep traveling. And
> the majority of us told ourselves and each other: this isn't so bad. We're
> young, we're fit, we'll be fine even if we catch it.
>
> Fast-forward two months, and we are drowning. Statistically
> speaking—judging by the curve in China—we are not even at the peak yet, but
> our fatality rate is at over 6 percent, double the known global average.
>
> Put aside statistics. Here is how it looks in practice. Most of my
> childhood friends are now doctors working in north Italy. In Milan, in
> Bergamo, in Padua, they are having to choose between intubating a
> 40-year-old with two kids, a 40-year old who is fit and healthy with no
> co-morbidities, and a 60-year-old with high blood pressure, because they
> don't have enough beds. In the hallway, meanwhile, there are another 15
> people waiting who are already hardly breathing and need oxygen.
>
> The army is trying to bring some of them to other regions with helicopters
> but it's not enough: the flow is just too much, too many people are getting
> sick at the same time.
>
> We are still awaiting the peak of the epidemic in Europe: probably early
> April for Italy, mid-April for Germany and Switzerland, somewhere around
> that time for the UK. In the U.S., the infection has only just begun.
>
> But until we're past the peak, the only solution is to impose social
> restrictions.
>
> And if your government is hesitating, these restrictions are up to you.
> Stay put. Do not travel. Cancel that family reunion, the promotion party
> and the big night out. This really sucks, but these are special times.
> Don't take risks. Do not go to places where you are more than 20 people in
> the same room. It's not safe and it's not worth it.
>
> But why the urgency, if most people survive?
>
> Here's why: Fatality is the wrong yardstick. Catching the virus can mess
> up your life in many, many more ways than just straight-up killing you. "We
> are all young"—okay. "Even if we get the bug, we will survive"—fantastic.
> How about needing four months of physical therapy before you even feel
> human again. Or getting scar tissue in your lungs and having your activity
> level restricted for the rest of your life. Not to mention having every
> chance of catching another bug in hospital, while you're being treated or
> waiting to get checked with an immune system distracted even by the false
> alarm of an ordinary flu. No travel for leisure or business is worth this
> risk.
>
> Now, odds are, you might catch coronavirus and might not even get
> symptoms. Great. Good for you. Very bad for everyone else, from your own
> grandparents to the random older person who got on the subway train a stop
> or two after you got off. You're fine, you're barely even sneezing or
> coughing, but you're walking around and you kill a couple of old ladies
> without even knowing it. Is that fair? You tell me.
>
> My personal as well as professional view: we all have a duty to stay put,
> except for very special reasons, like, you go to work because you work in
> healthcare, or you have to save a life and bring someone to hospital, or go
> out to shop for food so you can survive. But when we get to this stage of a
> pandemic, it's really important not to spread the bug. The only thing that
> helps is social restriction. Ideally, the government should issue that
> instruction and provide a financial fallback—compensate business owners,
> ease the financial load on everyone as much as possible and reduce the
> incentive of risking your life or the lives of others just to make ends
> meet. But if your government or company is slow on the uptake, don't be
> that person. Take responsibility. For all but essential