We sit around expecting a magic bullet with COVID. There is no such thing.
It's crazy to me how many Americans believe our system is somehow superior, when this is the same system who led the masses to believe "smoking is healthy" and made an entire generation (mine, the Millennials) obese with the carb-loaded food guide pyramid.
We, Americans, are now paying the most by far medical care yet we have higher mortality than most with COVID.
I can't blame anyone for not trusting things they see in print at face value, but it gets downright weird and destructive when people mindlessly REJECT everything just because they don't like the source, like, "I will not ever get vaccinated or ever wear a mask because I can point out Fauci made an inaccurate statement." I am not a medical professional, please consult with your's before before seeking treatment, but here are some of my thoughts about COVID. The truth is, every single treatment for every disease is imperfect to an extent. There's a statistical % of effectiveness. 95% effective, 5% effective, etc… and you and your doctor have to decide if the benefit outweighs the risk with ANY treatment. Let's talk about risk. There seems to be 2 extreme opinions that are unhelpful here: One side thinks COVID-19 is a high risk to everyone- they tend to support extreme measures with little regard for diminishing returns of treatment or fear-profiteering. Then, there's a contrarian side, who thinks COVID is a low risk to everyone and that the disease is fake news. This side tends to be reckless and negligent about spreading and treating disease in a health emergency. Neither side are correct and both are contributing in a real way to the problem. A brutal fact about COVID is that it poses a low risk to some population segments (it was less lethal than flu to children last year), and COVID poses a much higher risk to other groups (the older, the obese, and those with some underlying health issues). The same disease that is low risk to you, that you may even carry without symptoms and walking around contagious with, poses a high risk to others- this is where masks help. Another brutal fact is that COVID patients overrunning Lexington Hospital to the point that the quality of care for non-COVID patients care may be in jeopardy has happened recently for the very first time. This fits every definition of an emergency. For us to get past this, the conversations we should be having are the ones where doctors and patients can assess risk, for example: "If you're a little bit older and a little bit obese, what's your risk?" We need to put care back in the hands of doctors and their patients, and informed decisions can be made accordingly. What it will take to beat COVID and not live in fear is informed decisions about treatment and physical actions to reduce spread, where people exercise personal responsibility and common sense. It takes cooler heads and rational minds.
Sincerely,
David Benjamin Moye
Councilman, West Columbia District #8
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