We Have to Stop Scaring People Unnecessarily

One of the things that is really driving me crazy about the reaction to the coronavirus epidemic is the constant excessive scaring of the average person about their risk of getting sick from the virus.  That risk is basically non-existent.  If you are a healthy person under that age of 60, your risk of getting a serious illness that requires hospitalization is not even close to 1%.  Not one person under the age of 55 has died in Minnesota.  Meanwhile, we have political leaders and so-called journalists who continue to make really completely unfounded statements about the risk to the public from the virus.  Here is one example.   (Stupid Story)  Some people apparently won’t be happy until every job in the country disappears.  This is insane, with no consideration of either the actual risk to most of the population or the devastation being wrought to the economy.   Another massive number of job losses today, with no end in sight.  And we can’t recover as long as people are afraid to go to work and afraid to resume normal activities.

At the daily press briefing yesterday from Minnesota’s Governor, we again hear about how dangerous it is and how we have to be safe in the workplaces.  There is no danger in the workplace.  He uses the example of the food plants in Southwestern Minnesota.  First, maybe you should have taken extra caution around those, like you should have done with nursing homes.  Second, I am not aware that those testing positive are actually developing serious illnesses in any large number or any number at all.  The majority of people who become infected with coronavirus have no symptoms or mild illness.  Only the very old have any real risk of serious illness.  The average working age person has nothing to fear.  Meanwhile, the dead keep piling up in Minnesota’s nursing homes, where there is apparently no concern for safety, if you go by the results.  These press briefings have turned into nothing but self-congratulatory love-fests where everyone lauds the Governor for his leadership and no one asks any hard questions.  The Governor keeps saying we are all in this together but we aren’t, he just keeps putting more and more people out of work without any regard to the harm that causes.  Makes me sick.