DMac, I think we discussed some of these issues before in the posts that are now lost.
None of the conditions you mention is contagious. If I watch a football game with you at your house for three hours, I’m not going to catch an allergy to peanut butter or shellfish or bee stings from you. I’m not going to get cancer from you. Or you from me. But either of us could well get the virus if the other has it.
In terms of consequences of getting the disease, we simply still don’t know all that much at this point. Why did this 41 year old woman die (I mentioned here because she lives two towns over from where lll and I live) when some people in their 90s survive? Why do some have severe (or worse) experiences while others never have any symptoms? The scientists think they may be beginning to find some answers, but there is nothing definitive yet.
There was an article in yesterday’s Inquirer about reported instances of damage to the heart, kidneys, and lungs. And about cases of heart attacks and strokes. Yes, some of these at present seem to be relatively rare, but the pervasiveness of other long-term consequences is simply not yet known. E.g., heart, lung, and kidney damage. The scary part is that you or I or anyone else simply doesn’t know if we’ll be stricken by any of the more severe effects.
https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronav ... 00821.html
Some people say they are willing to run the risk of having a serious reaction. That would be OK if the disease weren’t as contagious as it is. If you live on a desert island and can’t infect anyone, fine. But if you live in a town or a city or if you come in contact with people in your daily life, you don’t have the right to willy nilly infect everyone you come in contact with. Just because you have only mild symptoms or are asymptomatic doesn’t mean someone you infect won't have a bad experience.
Therein lies the problem with widespread reopenings. The combination of the contagiousness and the potential serious effects of the disease strongly counsels that we err on the side of caution. Everyone wants things reopened yesterday. The quickest way to do that is to try to beat back the disease using the recommended measures. If we don’t, we won’t get back to life as we knew if for a lot longer.
I hear you about not living in fear. I agree. But on the other hand, let’s not act as though nothing is going on (I know you aren’t advocating that).
Let’s continue to take reasonable precautions. Our country has not done well at all compared to other countries, especially advanced countries. Why is that? I think it is because too many people are unwilling to do the basics of physical distancing (my psychologist daughter has counseled me not to say
social distancing), hand hygiene, minimizing of crowds, etc. Now we see knuckleheaded college kids ignoring the rules. Their “right to party” indeed.
Yes, the evidence seems to be pretty strong that young people do much better with the disease than old farts. But they spread it just as easily. So the young bucks can (and no doubt will) spread the virus to college workers and professors and among the communities where their schools are situated if they continue to act obliviously.
I have frankly given up hope that the people in this country will follow the rules. At least too many of them won’t. So we will have regular flare-ups here and there. Hopefully manageable, but that remains to be seen. Many are OK with that. I’m not. You’ve probably seen the recent poll where a majority of Republicans are OK with the number of deaths. Disgusting.
So I have shifted from complaining about lack compliance (it’s become tilting at windmills) to complaining about the bitching and moaning, especially from people who don’t think we need to follow the rules. As I have said, this thing will largely be over in a year or a year and a half. Nobody likes it. Everybody is suffering to some extent. But the complaining does no good. Have some patience. Suck it up in the meantime. (Comments not directed to you personally, DMac. I know you are one of the good guys. You, too, Cletus.)