In the March 13 Enterprise-Record, there was an editorial putting this coronavirus in perspective and I quote, “The flu infects 1 billion people each year worldwide, killing as many as 650,000. In the U.S. so far this season, flu afflicted up to 49 million people, resulting in as many as 52,000 deaths. Imagine the level of hysteria that would ensue if people spoke of the flu in the same manner they speak of the coronavirus.”
I’ve been pondering this editorial ever since, wondering why it became this huge crisis, with people panicking and then the different countries and now the US shutting down and shutting people in? Of course every life is precious but in this case, what about the 52,000 lives lost to the flu just in the US?
Unless the staggering number of losses, due to the flu are a misprint, could someone please explain to me the difference? And one more thing, in an attempt to save thousands of lives, millions will be ruined — no jobs, no paychecks, many becoming homeless, more needing welfare to survive. Businesses being closed not just for now but forever. The enormity of it is mind-boggling.
— Barbara Gore, Durham
Chico Taxpayers Association 
A University of Oxford website has interesting statistics and comments on the fatality rate attributed to covad-19:
“Between countries, case fatality rates vary significantly, and over time, which suggests considerable uncertainty over the exact case fatality rates:
-The number of cases detected by testing will vary considerably by country;
-Selection bias can mean those with severe disease are preferentially tested;
-There may be delays between symptoms onset and deaths which can lead to underestimation of the CFR;
-There may be factors that account for increased death rates such as coinfection, more inadequate healthcare, patient demographics (i.e., older patients might be more prevalent in countries such as Italy);
-There may be increased rates of smoking or comorbidities amongst the fatalities.
-Differences in how deaths are attributed to Coronavirus: dying with the disease (association) is not the same as dying from the disease (causation).”
In other words, we don’t really know if covid-19 is deadlier than seasonal flu viruses– but don’t suggest that shutting down the country is an overreaction.
https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/global-covid-19-case-fatality-rates/
Thanks Donna. While I hope people become more health conscious out of all this, I hope the hysteria goes down.
Social distancing has not been used during our flu season and there have been approximately 50,000 deaths a year. If social distancing was practiced during a normal flu season the death rate would drop dramatically. The flu vaccine also keeps mortality down.
The Covid virus may result in 100,000 or more deaths in the US with social distancing. No vaccine is available. Without social distancing the mortality would be much , much greater. Quite possibly approaching one-million lives.
I’m all for social distancing – washing hands, maintaining a buffer. I’ve always had my own social space – who wants strangers in your body space anyway? Or their blog, for that matter.
But shutting down an entire town – that’s ridiculous. Arbitrary decisions over which businesses are “essential.” Threats of “consequences” for those of us who stop to chat on the street, but the needle exchange and the public feedings go on unmolested. Our town is on its head. Go out to other towns – I just went to Red Bluff yesterday. As usual, Chico is the Weirdo Island of Northern California.
I also know that people have to be exposed to a disease to develop immunity. Chicken pox is little more than a nuisance for children, but it can be deadly for those adults who never had it as kids.
We’ll have to see what happens with COVID – your speculation means less to me than your advice as to how to handle my mail.
I feel like Trump had no choice but succumb to the mass hysteria, but here I sit socially distanced for the duration. I am sure once the next attack from the left begins the corona virus will fade away. Meanwhile our city has fallen into the hands of the homeless and the new green deal.
I agree, I saw the pressure on his face. I know he’s under a lot of pressure, a lot of people are trying to use COVID to undermine him right now. Sometimes I think Newsome would throw us all out with the bathwater just to make Trump look bad. He’s obviously willing to tank the state economy just to get his way with Trump. These people, including our city leaders and staff, are so entitled they are no longer in touch with reality. At least not the reality their constituents are living.
Having watched Tuesday’s meeting, I’ll say there was nothing “urgent” enough to have a remote meeting. And then Schwab, Brown, Stone and Ory pulled that questionable move of changing city code to allow homeless camping in our parks. I don’t think that would have floated before the public, they purposely did it during a remote meeting so they wouldn’t have to listen to what the majority of the public thinks of that.
I believe the whole emergency declaration is unnecessary, it’s just a ruse to put the public out of the conversation. Council needs to terminate it, and that is within their powers, since they declared it in the first place.
I hope you will write to council and urge them to terminate the emergency declaration. That’s sean.morgan@chicoca.gov, kasey.reynolds@chicoca.gov, ann.schwab@chicoca.gov, alex.brown@chicoca.gov, scott.huber@chicoca.gov, karl.ory@chicoca.gov, and randall.stone@chicoca.gov
Over 17 million people lost their jobs in the last 3 weeks. And a few of those people I know. And I know their jobs are never coming back. Locking down the majority of the economy has been devastating, in my opinion a vast and tragic over-reaction.
I agree, this is a disaster. Months, years from now, we’ll look back and see a big scam – panic makes people easier to manipulate. This morning, as I opened the ER, what should pop up but an ad – Impeach Trump – again?
I hope you will write to council. Tell them to lift the city’s state of emergency and replace it with a “suggestion” that people keep distancing, keep washing their hands, etc. Frankly, I haven’t been sheltering in place, I’ve continued to do my job, continued to go grocery shopping, continued to walk and be social – from a distance. No, I didn’t drive to Portland to see my son for my birthday – that seemed too risky, for more than health reasons. But I’ve continued to support my local economy and my friends and neighbors.
We have to let council know that we won’t forget how they acted when it’s over, that’s for sure. Tell them there’s no way you will support any tax increase and incumbents who went along with this ruse will be shown the door in due time.