Thursday, April 28, 2022

 

Political Mayhem Thursday: Pandemic and politics

 Is it just me, or have all the political actors in the US, across the political spectrum, pretty much just have given up on taking measures to mitigate the spread of covid?

The line seems to be that the numbers have improved to the point where we no longer need such measures. But... that doesn't match the data, which shows numbers of infections going up right now. Perhaps the hope is that the number of hospitalizations and deaths won't increase this time (and there is some evidence to support that). Thus, we can lighten up a little (or a lot) because the consequences aren't that bad. It will be like a recurring and particularly bad flu.

Hospitalizations and (especially) deaths are usually trailing indicators, following a spike in cases by at least a few weeks. So perhaps we haven't gotten there yet, but in places like DC and NYC where the numbers went up a while ago for infections, that has not been the case.

The fear, I suppose, is that the virus will mutate and become more deadly, and we will have lost the will to take public health measures to fight it.

But I sure hope not...

Comments:
There are two epidemics. One is the illness in all its variety and consequences; it is a very easily spread and has many bad outcomes, especially for the unvaccinated. The second one is the disregard of simple infectious disease control, the human response by many who will do nothing to prevent the spread of the first one. Over 50 years ago, I studied the social epidemics of the spread of human understanding (or lack thereof) and behavior. It is a social disease (stupidity?) that can make the physical disease less or more effectively spread.
 
Our community in NC has been RED for a few weeks yet crickets on the news. We continue to wear our masks indoors and when in large groups. They are also quite helpful since it is pollen season.
 
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