Two things arrived in my email this morning. Not sure who wrote either. But they are worth thinking about.
How can a disease with 1% mortality shut down Canada?
There are two problems with this question,
1) It neglects the law of large numbers, and
2) It assumes that one of two things happen; you die or you are 100% fine.
Canada has a population of 37,742,154. If one percent of the population dies, that's 377,422 people dead.
Three hundred thousand people dead would monkey wrench the economy no matter what. That more than doubles the number of annual deaths.
The second bit is that people keep talking about deaths. Deaths, deaths, deaths. Only one percent die! Just one percent! One is a small number! No big deal, right?
What about the people who survive?
For every one person who dies:
- 19 more require hospitalization
- 18 of those will have permanent heart damage for the rest of their lives
- 10 will have permanent lung damage
- 3 will have strokes
- 2 will have neurological damage that leads to chronic weakness and loss of coordination
- 2 will have neurological damage that leads to loss of cognitive function
So now all of a sudden, that "but it's only 1% fatal!" becomes:
- 377,422 dead
- 7,171,009 hospitalized
- 6,793,588 people with permanent heart damage
- 3,774,215 people with permanent lung damage
- 1,132,265 people with strokes
- 754,843 people with muscle weakness
- 754,843 people with loss of cognitive function
This is what the folks who keep on about "only 1% dead, what's the big deal?" don't get.
It's not just 1% dead. Imagine the cost to our country, Imagine the clogged hospitals. Imagine all the loved ones who die or suffer health effects the rest of their lives.
So please:
- wear your mask (and OVER your nose and mouth please)
- wash your hands regularly
- stay 2m apart.
And.....This doesn’t mean live in fear but live with respect for the health and well being for others. Mask on, buy local and practice kindness.
So, today, Alberta lost more people to Covid than the Humboldt bus crash.
Remember when that crash happened? People cried. They put hockey sticks on their porch. They donated millions to a GoFundMe. They demanded justice, and stricter regulations for truck drivers. They put stickers on their vehicles in remembrance and support.
But today - we lost more people than that crash. And what happened? NOTHING. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. No outcry, no mourning, no group remembrance, no GoFundMe, no outpouring of support. Any cries for stricter regulations are met with anti-mask protests. Servers who try to enforce masking are assaulted. People who want to protect others are insulted or attacked. Our health workers speak out, just to be insulted by our govt. Our provincial govt turns a blind eye.
If we loaded those bodies onto a hockey bus, would people pay attention then? Would the Alberta govt pay attention? What will it take, for people to start paying attention, and take this virus seriously?
I don't know. I am so sad, so discouraged. These lives deserved better. They deserved more than "oh well, they had comorbidities *shrug*" These lives deserve more than "hey, the death rate is only ___ (insert rate quoted of the day)%, that isn't that bad." These lives deserve more than "hey, they were over the age of 82, so they lived a good life anyway."
I am so tired of the excuses, of the dismissal of these deaths. These are people who were important to someone, and who are missed. These are people who made a difference in someone's life. They deserve better than "oh well" when they die. And EVERYONE in Alberta needs to step up, needs to call out these idiot anti-maskers and partiers and those who refuse to distance. We could have beat this months ago, but ignorant selfishness has prevented that. Enough is enough.
A busload. Just today. A busload. Think on that. End rant.
How can a disease with 1% mortality shut down Canada?
There are two problems with this question,
1) It neglects the law of large numbers, and
2) It assumes that one of two things happen; you die or you are 100% fine.
Canada has a population of 37,742,154. If one percent of the population dies, that's 377,422 people dead.
Three hundred thousand people dead would monkey wrench the economy no matter what. That more than doubles the number of annual deaths.
The second bit is that people keep talking about deaths. Deaths, deaths, deaths. Only one percent die! Just one percent! One is a small number! No big deal, right?
What about the people who survive?
For every one person who dies:
- 19 more require hospitalization
- 18 of those will have permanent heart damage for the rest of their lives
- 10 will have permanent lung damage
- 3 will have strokes
- 2 will have neurological damage that leads to chronic weakness and loss of coordination
- 2 will have neurological damage that leads to loss of cognitive function
So now all of a sudden, that "but it's only 1% fatal!" becomes:
- 377,422 dead
- 7,171,009 hospitalized
- 6,793,588 people with permanent heart damage
- 3,774,215 people with permanent lung damage
- 1,132,265 people with strokes
- 754,843 people with muscle weakness
- 754,843 people with loss of cognitive function
This is what the folks who keep on about "only 1% dead, what's the big deal?" don't get.
It's not just 1% dead. Imagine the cost to our country, Imagine the clogged hospitals. Imagine all the loved ones who die or suffer health effects the rest of their lives.
So please:
- wear your mask (and OVER your nose and mouth please)
- wash your hands regularly
- stay 2m apart.
And.....This doesn’t mean live in fear but live with respect for the health and well being for others. Mask on, buy local and practice kindness.
So, today, Alberta lost more people to Covid than the Humboldt bus crash.
Remember when that crash happened? People cried. They put hockey sticks on their porch. They donated millions to a GoFundMe. They demanded justice, and stricter regulations for truck drivers. They put stickers on their vehicles in remembrance and support.
But today - we lost more people than that crash. And what happened? NOTHING. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. No outcry, no mourning, no group remembrance, no GoFundMe, no outpouring of support. Any cries for stricter regulations are met with anti-mask protests. Servers who try to enforce masking are assaulted. People who want to protect others are insulted or attacked. Our health workers speak out, just to be insulted by our govt. Our provincial govt turns a blind eye.
If we loaded those bodies onto a hockey bus, would people pay attention then? Would the Alberta govt pay attention? What will it take, for people to start paying attention, and take this virus seriously?
I don't know. I am so sad, so discouraged. These lives deserved better. They deserved more than "oh well, they had comorbidities *shrug*" These lives deserve more than "hey, the death rate is only ___ (insert rate quoted of the day)%, that isn't that bad." These lives deserve more than "hey, they were over the age of 82, so they lived a good life anyway."
I am so tired of the excuses, of the dismissal of these deaths. These are people who were important to someone, and who are missed. These are people who made a difference in someone's life. They deserve better than "oh well" when they die. And EVERYONE in Alberta needs to step up, needs to call out these idiot anti-maskers and partiers and those who refuse to distance. We could have beat this months ago, but ignorant selfishness has prevented that. Enough is enough.
A busload. Just today. A busload. Think on that. End rant.
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