Ca ~EiiiiiligM(52020 NEWS L ETTE R
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It is nut just the flu Just to be clear: This idea [that people with strong immune systems need not worry about catching the corona virus] is patently false; humanity has never seen the virus before, therefore our immune systems have no natural defenses against it. Infectious disease experts all agree that the "herd immunity" approach would be catastrophic-millions of people would die in the process. It would be one thing if.it were just fringe groups promoting this dangerous idea. But there are. signs that this dangerous, flawed line of thinking is making its way into the mainstream {CO]-mingling between the anti-vaccination community and groups that stage coronavirus shutdown protests. He has noticed that the protest groups have begun to repeat the "natural immunity" talking points, and that both groups have embraced the herd immunity approach. "These people are really gaining a lot of traction, and that is worrisome," he says. "We worry about these ideas making it into the mainstream." Omer cautions that ifthese ideas take hold, they could persist even after the coronavirus pandemic dies down noting, "Those of us in this field will be cleaning up these messes for years to come." From article by Kiera Butler ..t
Over 80,000 people in the V.S. have died from COVID-19. In Canada the numbers are over 5,000 and worldwide the death toll is approaching 300,000 people. The extract above from an article on Mother Jones' web site talks about the anti-vaccination fringe and the lunatic fringe joining forces (so to speak) in using the same "natural immunity" arguments in both online and physical protests to get everything "open". The mentality behind this says that social distancing harms us because people gain immunity by being exposed to germs and developing anti-bodies. It's not an instant thing, though, and the many experts in infectious diseases are appalled at the seeming ignorance 0
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such an argument. It's like saying "No one I know is sick so we must be immune." What will likely happen is that restrictions will be eased and people will go back to work. (Or, as in some cases, be fired or lose any government fmancial assistance for not going back to work.) The virus will surge and millions of people will die. It seems that those making the most vocal and visible protests about opening things up are choosing to ignore what public health officials keep saying: We are not at the end of this disease. If we simply ignore what has happened in places like Italy, Spain, the V.S. and China we could have a catastrophe like the Spanish Flu of 1919, when between 50 and 100 million people died. ByPAVLR TAYLOR Because the radio repeats their name my daughter asks what a Nazi is. I want to tell her they're people from the past, that they march in movies and books, and in faraway countries her school lessons haven't yet charted on the map. But the voice on the radio names Virginia where her uncle and aunt live. So, there's no lying to spare her. Besides should I spare her? How do I tell my daughter that some people made lampshades out of other people? How do I assure her that even though there are now Americans who admire those lampshades and praise those people, her grandpa from Guyana is safe, her aunts and uncles won't be shot because their skin is brown? Do I leave the radio on and face the questions or do I turn it off? How long do I hold her after the questions are over and is it enough that she eventually stops shaking?