People don’t like to be wrong, and I am definitely no exception. Well, here I go! Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. I was wrong! When people started panic shopping three weeks ago and buying up all the TP, I told my husband, “Everyone is being ridiculous! This is basically just the flu.” I WAS WRONG. This is not the flu.
However, I am dismayed by the number of people out there that are still saying that this is no worse than the common flu or pneumonia. They justify this by comparing numbers, stating that more people die each year from the common flu. Yes. This is true. However, we have only been collecting data on covid-19 for four months, and most of that data has been collected during a period in which we have been taking extraordinary measures, measures that we do not typically take during a typical flu season.
What about the fact that 800 people a day are dying in Italy? Some argue that they have The National Health Service and that any form of united healthcare is less adequate than our current structure here in the United States. A comparable death toll couldn’t happen in a country such as ours with its excellent medical system. Could it? Look! I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I do know that Italy’s healthcare system is ranked second by WHO. Their healthcare system probably isn’t to blame for the mass casualties caused by covid-19.
But, but… Italy has an older population. That’s why there are more deaths. Italy’s life expectancy is higher than ours here in the United States. They do have a larger population of people over 60 who are in the high risk group, and, very sadly, are seeing more deaths as a result. That being said, in January, Italy reported that since the flu season started in October 2019, over 2 million cases of flu were recorded, resulting in 240 deaths. This is the same population and healthcare system that is loosing 800 people a day to covid-19. Obviously, covid-19 is much more deadly.
Covid-19 does have symptoms that are very similar to the flu, making this all too confusing for some, but it effects the body very differently. Instead of attacking one section of lung, it affects the entire lung. That is why so many patients are being put on ventilators that we are running out of ventilators in first world countries!
In addition, covid-19 seems to mutate much faster than the common flu. In two weeks it went from being a virus that is only able to be transmitted from animals to humans to one that is now being readily transmitted from human to human. In four months, it has mutated again, and now there are two well known common strands. This makes creating a vaccine more challenging. The more it spreads, the more strands will appear, and the more complicated it will become to develop an effective vaccine. New symptoms are being added to the list, which might indicated additional mutations to the virus. We MUST do all that we can to stop the spread of the virus, to prevent additional strands, in order to create the most effective vaccine that we can.
I’ve been told by peers, “at least it’s not Ebola.” While I am glad that we are not facing another Ebola outbreak, I’m not so sure that we are better off facing covid-19. Ebola did kill up to 50% of those infected. However, unlike covid-19, Ebola was predominantly spread though bodily fluids like sweat and blood. Covid-19 is spread through droplets and is far more contagious. Ebola symptoms were so severe that those infected were able to be quickly identified and isolated. With covid-19, infected people are initially fairly healthy, going about their daily business, shedding the virus.
We don’t want to induce panic; so, what’s the harm in comparing covid-19 to the common flu? Downplaying this disease can cause people not to take the recommendations of their government officials and healthcare professionals seriously. Those people will be more likely to make mistakes that cost lives.
Comparing covid-19 to the flu is especially dangerous for the older population, the ones that are the most at risk. Let’s face it, they are often easily confused by medical terms and information. Many still refer to diabetes as “the sugar”. They can relate to the flu, they can understand the flu, and if they hear covid-19 referred to as the flu, there is a good chance that they will treat it no more seriously than the flu. Sadly, my very own Father is in this group. They need to take this serious. We all need to.
The older generation is not the only population that may be struggling with medical terms. Areas of lower socioeconomic status may not have healthcare information as readily available or may have a strong distrust for doctors. They may be confused by the news, and may prefer to listen to word of mouth. If they hear covid-19 referred to as “the flu” in layman’s terms, they may feel more comfortable and at ease, making costly mistakes.
It’s okay to be wrong. No one, absolutely no one, is going to say “I told you so”. You are absolutely right, we do not need to panic and buy all the canned goods, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper that we can get our hands on. There is no shortage in supply. However, if we treat this like the flu, there will be unprecedented mass casualties. Please stay home! The economy can be fixed, but no one is expendable. In the words of Suze Orman, “People first, then money, then things.”
Misfit 