Virus Update

Things are getting better, but they're also getting worse. 

On the positive side:  As those of us who are fighting against Team Apocalypse have predicted, it appears that herd immunity has kicked in. Many states are now showing considerable reductions in "cases" along with fewer deaths among the very old. That's all very good news. It also belies the catastrophist predictions that "Florida would have more deaths than New York" or "Houston's hospitals would be overwhelmed" with people who would then be dying in the streets. Treatment therapies are improving, and reduced length of hospital stays is the result; work on vaccine candidates is progressing well. 

On the negative side: Hysteria remains—and it remains big time. 

1.  Despite contradictory evidence on the efficacy of masks outside a medical setting, Joe Biden has channeled the authoritarian bent that has possessed far too many leftist Democrats and suggested that masks be mandated nationally, even outdoors. Good luck with that, Joe. Catastrophists have also decided that masks are a symbol that can be used for virtue signalling, and are quick to condemn someone who is well-informed enough to reject wearing a mask while jogging, playing golf, or going to the beach.

2.  Many major college conferences have cancelled football—even though it is very, very unlikely that young athletes would require medical care should they test positive for COVID-19. In fact, it could be argued that those same athletes are more at risk outside their controlled team setting, but even that risk is very, very low.

3. "Cases" remain all the rage among media members of Team Apocalypse. It's fascinating that the hamsters NEVER provide more granular data about "cases." For example, why not break it down this way:

• Asymptomatic cases, age break down within this category
• Cases that exhibit minor symptoms that do not need professional medical attention, age break down within this category
• Cases that require a visit to the doctor, age breakdown within this category
• Cases that require hospitalization, age breakdown within this category

That level of granularity just might reduce the fear, uncertainty and doubt that the hamsters want to sow by using their uninformative 'scoreboards.' That fact that more granularity is NOT presented tells you all you need to know about Team Apocalypse's motives.

4.  The Democrats. their teachers' union allies, and the media are fighting hard to keep schools closed—even though the deleterious psychological affects of closure (not to mention the educational affects) on young children far outweigh the potential health affects of the virus. And BTW, the likelihood that a child will succumb to the virus is between 1 million and 3.5 million to one (depending on the study)—it's much more dangerous for the kid to ride in a car or go swimming in a backyard pool.

I personally know a number of people who have remained barricaded in their homes for going on five months. No trips outside the home (except maybe for groceries), no visitors, no relatives, no children or grandchildren. They continue to spray down their grocery deliveries with bleach and otherwise look at outsiders (who might carry the virus) in horror. And now, they're beginning to admit that they are very lonely and depressed. They are, to put it delicately—afraid to get the virus and die. No amount of reasoning, no collection of data that would assuage their fear, no amount of gentle nudging will help. They are, as they are wont to say, "Just not ready." Interestingly, every one of these people is a progressive.

I worry that 15 days have become 5 months and may very well extend into a year or more. The catastrophic human effects—depression, suicides in younger age groups, violence in cities, permanent mass migration out of cities have already begun, as have business closures, bankruptcies, economic dislocation at every level. The damage affects the working poor and middle class disproportionately, making virtue signaling by economically protected members of Team Apocalypse all the more obnoxious.

As I have stated before—Out of hysteria driven by unwarranted fear, we are, as a society, committing suicide. It's very sad to watch.