OT: One Covid death really got to me...

My family and friends have been fortunate so far; no deaths or serious illness.

But daily we hear about the number of deaths caused by (or attributed to) Covid.

It becomes just a meaningless number after a while and I don't feel the human tragedy as much.

Maybe that's good for my own sanity.

But one particular Covid death really got to me yesterday.

A local group has been planting a cross for each death statewide.

The sight of it reminded me of "Flanders Field, where poppies grow between the crosses row on row".

It was a truly numbing, yet amazing sight to behold.

But when I focused on just one of those nameless crosses, the emotions kicked in as I thought of that one family and that one victim and their loss and the frustration and loss and failure being absorbed by their medical caregivers, and all of that multiplied by the thousands.

This too shall pass, as will we.

2020 Covid deaths in just one state.

        In Flanders fields.

Flanders Fields by John McCrae, A WWI Canadian army doctor.

Written following the death of his close friend and compatriot Lieutenant Alexis Helmer

Edited by Rogerdodger, 16 January 2021 - 11:00 PM.

When comparing over the course of the full year, 2.84 million people died during all of 2019, and 2.83 million people died in 2018. By using the rate of deaths so far in 2020 and extrapolating through the end of the year (a simple projection), more than 3.1 million people will have died by December 31.

In other words (3.1-2.85) million more died in 2020 over 2019 = 0.25 million

The fly in the ointment is this...if a person dies for any cause within 60 days after testing positive, that death is counted as covid death. George Floyd is  listed as covid death! Most people dying after testing positive for covid had 2 or more existing serious health problems.  2.85 people die every year in United States. Where are the crosses for those 2.85 million (11.4 times higher than covid) people?

If crosses were planted for heart disease EVERY YEAR for 100 years, there would not be enough room to plant crosses in Texas. 

https://www.cbs19.tv...52-e059df9aa6f3

Edited by pdx5, 14 January 2021 - 05:36 PM.

That's why I said "deaths caused by (or attributed to) Covid".

I think most of us would prefer a heart attack instant death rather spending painful weeks on a respirator without any friends or family around.

It's a sad, lonely way to go.

I want to die while I'm in good health, like The Godfather, in my tomato patch playing with my great-grandkids.

Simplest way to avoid the respirator is to keep lungs strong.

Only way to keep lungs strong is regular aerobic or semi-aerobic exercise. 

I agree about dying alone in a plastic tent isolated from the world. 

And build natural immunity by NOT locking yourself in the basement.

When comparing over the course of the full year, 2.84 million people died during all of 2019, and 2.83 million people died in 2018. By using the rate of deaths so far in 2020 and extrapolating through the end of the year (a simple projection), more than 3.1 million people will have died by December 31.

 

In other words (3.1-2.85) million more died in 2020 over 2019 = 0.25 million

 

The fly in the ointment is this...if a person dies for any cause within 60 days after testing positive, that death is counted as covid death. George Floyd is  listed as covid death! Most people dying after testing positive for covid had 2 or more existing serious health problems.  2.85 people die every year in United States. Where are the crosses for those 2.85 million (11.4 times higher than covid) people?

 

If crosses were planted for heart disease EVERY YEAR for 100 years, there would not be enough room to plant crosses in Texas. 

 

 

Rogerdoger wrote a powerfully moving and heartfelt comment about scale of the human tragedy of this pandemic, only to be followed by your effort to minimize and negate the significance of this blight. You've consistently dismissed the severity and suffering of this disease, starting with comments early this year that it was grossly exaggerated, no worse than the flu and, I believe, also predicting it would be gone by the summer because higher temperature will eliminate it. You're very selective in your fact finding which presents distortions to substantiate your pronouncements, presented with great conviction. 

The statistics I found suggests that as of early January, at least 334,000 more people died in 2020 than in 2019, with 2020 as having the highest death rate since 1949 with deaths among people 25-44 particularly above normal.  https://usafacts.org...avirus-age-flu/

Your comment about George Floyd's death as counted in the COVID-death count is wrong. His official cause of death was listed as a homicide with an ancillary finding of infection with COVID, among other pre-existing conditions, but COVID was not listed in Florida or any other official list either as a cause of or contributor to his death. This was a talking-point rumor by COVID minimizers. 

Medpage summarizes the difficulties in assigning cause of death and the various factors that may contribute to errors. This is a balanced and fair summary that was written in August 2020 when they considered the numbers of deaths alarming and concluded that the official numbers are probably undercounted for reasons they explain. They address the points you raise and also urge Americans not to become numb to the carnage.  https://www.medpaget...ing-stiff/88141

For the past week or so, the death rate has accelerated with approx. 4000/day deaths in the U.S. and, currently, the total is 388,000. We haven't yet been hit hard with the European or Brazilian variants that are more contagious could make this rise parabolic.

Another factor hardly discussed is the longer term damage to health for many people who were never hospitalized and had mild levels of illness. This includes a great many young (20s-40s) and fit people with no pre-existing health conditions. Little is yet understood about who will suffer these post-COVID consequence, why it happens, how it happens, and what to do about it. Just about any organ of the body or bodily function may be affected or impaired - heart, lungs, brain, etc.

Estimates of the prevalence of long-haul COVID or post-viral COVID vary widely since stats are not yet available, with 2%-10% of those who had any COVID symptoms as the ballpark guess for this consequence, but it's a moving target. So far, the assumption is that those who were positive but asymptomatic are not affected.  The concern is for those who were positive and had symptoms. This can be very consequential for the future health of enormous numbers of people, far more than the death count, and be overwhelming for our healthcare system.

I hope people are taking heed.  
  

from the picture, the grass seem to have been intact for years.   is it just some artist show?  I heard that some artist in DC did it.

from the picture, the grass seem to have been intact for years.   is it just some artist show

It is an empty lot next to a church a few blocks from my house.

No one is buried there (I hope)

It is a simple, but moving memorial to those who have perished.

My wife spent a week in ICU a year ago for another life threatening illness.

That probably brought up some feelings on my part.

At least I was able to be by her side as she gradually got well enough to celebrate our 50th anniversary..

Edited by Rogerdodger, 14 January 2021 - 11:27 PM.

Congratulations Roger thats a milestone in itself and great words above!! 

Memo to Claire: I will turn 81 in just a couple of weeks, and carrying on all my normal activities such as  dining every week  in my favorite sea-food restaurants along highway A1A in St Augustine, visiting Gym 6/7 days every week, tons of visits to Walmart, Aldi, Home Depot, Lowe's, picking up food from restaurants, etc.  Yes, everything is wide open in Florida. Did regular visits to eye doctor & my HMO doctor for routine prevention reasons, took in a crowded cruise in 2020 and looking forward to  1 or 2 in 2021. I worked on tons of landscaping projects last summer because the house was brand new and needed it. I must be doing something right, since not even a cold this year. Don't need a single medication yet. I mow my lawn with a push mower without needing to stop for breaks. I am now 100% convinced daily exercise is key to good health. My goal is to outlive my mother who made it to age 103. Except she was not mobile after age 95. I want to be able to jump over 3 foot hurdles at age 100. I can easily clear 4 foot hurdles now. So to conclude, the China virus has been easy to avoid so far. Key is exercise and continuous mild exposure to people to build immunity.  If I had diabetes, cancer, obesity, heart disease, kidney disease, etc. I would copy Biden and stay in my basement and avoid any exposure to other humans.

Edited by pdx5, 15 January 2021 - 06:01 PM.

Memo to Claire: I will turn 81 in just a couple of weeks, and carrying on all my normal activities such as  dining every week  in my favorite sea-food restaurants along highway A1A in St Augustine, visiting Gym 6/7 days every week, tons of visits to Walmart, Aldi, Home Depot, Lowe's, picking up food from restaurants, etc.  Yes, everything is wide open in Florida. Did regular visits to eye doctor & my HMO doctor for routine prevention reasons, took in a crowded cruise in 2020 and looking forward to  1 or 2 in 2021. I worked on tons of landscaping projects last summer because the house was brand new and needed it. I must be doing something right, since not even a cold this year. Don't need a single medication yet. I mow my lawn with a push mower without needing to stop for breaks. I am now 100% convinced daily exercise is key to good health. My goal is to outlive my mother who made it to age 103. Except she was not mobile after age 95. I want to be able to jump over 3 foot hurdles at age 100. I can easily clear 4 foot hurdles now. So to conclude, the China virus has been easy to avoid so far. Key is exercise and continuous mild exposure to people to build immunity.  If I had diabetes, cancer, obesity, heart disease, kidney disease, etc. I would copy Biden and stay in my basement and avoid any exposure to other humans.

You clearly do seem to be very fit and healthy which may be partly the result of a healthful lifestyle. Another possibility is that you won the genetics lottery.  Yet another possibility is that you've been lucky so far, but surely you don't believe that an N of 1 is a statistically sound data base to extrapolate to the population as a whole. 

Are you aware that many very healthy and fit young people have become seriously ill or died - including athletes who participate in marathons and triathlons, have very healthful diets and who don't have pre-existing medical conditions? Also, a great many people live in circumstances that make it much more difficult to take care of medical needs or live healthfully, including those who are more at risk due to genetic vulnerabilities. 

Yes, healthy weight, exercise, and a healthful diet are known to be positive for health and longevity, but it doesn't always work for known and yet unknown reasons.  Your comments seem to imply that anyone who gets sick could have avoided it by living as you do and is to blame if they don't? Are you suggesting that you have the answers that apply to everyone? 

Your confidence in your pronouncements seems not to have been altered by your prior certainty that this virus was no worse than the flu and that it was going to disappear by last summer. Are you ready to acknowledge that you were wrong? Can you be open to the possibility that you don't have all the answers and that your health may be neither normative nor the standard for evaluating or making judgments about the outcome for others?