Onondaga Central
Did the U.S. Already Experience the Coronavirus before March? According to data from the CDC, the week of January 18, 2020, 90,000 Americans went to the doctor with ILI symptoms and increased to over 107,000 by the following week. ILI is influenza-like-symptom and has a fever of 100℉ or greater. However, only 30% of these cases tested positive for the flu, Influenza A or Influenza B. This leads to the question, what did these people have? Was it the Coronavirus? The first Coronavirus case in China was in November 2019. Are Coronavirus Cases Inflated? According to a report from the New York Times, besides treating Coronavirus cases, hospitals across the United States are quiet. Heart attacks and strokes are down 40%-60%, medical experts have not yet identified the reason. It could be that people are reluctant to go to the hospital and seek treatment over Coronavirus fears. Another potential reason is hospital patients are being tested and treated for the Coronavirus instead of the main cause of hospitalization. According to Italian health ministry advisor Walter Ricciardi, as of March 25th, only 12% (720) of Coronavirus deaths actually have the Coronavirus as the direct causes of death on their death certificate. The other 88% (5,280) have at least one, some have two or three, pre-morbidity diseases that could be the causes of death and the patient happens also happen to have the Coronavirus (OAN). In the United States, pre-existing health factors make the virus more severe. As of April 6, only 46 of the 2,475 Coronavirus deaths had no pre-existing health condition (HYC.health.gov), which raises questions if anyone with Coronavirus-like symptoms and dies is counted as a Coronavirus death, even if another condition caused their death. According to a recent study conducted in a hospital in New York City, 94% of all Coronavirus patients had one preexisting condition, 88% had more than one pre-existing condition (obesity, hypertension etc.) and only 6.1% had no condition other than the Coronavirus (N.Y. Post). Coronavirus Models were Wrong In early March, the CDC, Center for Disease Control, estimated that 1.7 million Americans would die from the Coronavirus (N.Y. Times). Fortunately, this number was inaccurate, as of April 26, over 51,000 Americans died of the Coronavirus (Worldometers). This raises questions about how the CDC could be so wrong, especially when the President and 50 U.S. governors have to make decisions affecting the economy (closing businesses), lives, and the dreams of people (canceling sports seasons). Coronavirus Compared to the other Epidemics? The flu usually kills 8,200-20,000 Americans per year (WebMD). In fact, the flu has killed 22,000 Americans this year, including 144 children under the age of 18- the worst since the Swine Flu, while the Coronavirus has killed a couple children nationwide but they had unknown medical conditions, as of April 24. The flu and pneumonia have actually surpassed the pandemic threshold with 7.4% of deaths (CBS News). There are never shutdowns in the U.S. from the flu, even for the Swine Flu (H1N1) which killed 17,000 people. SARS is another virus similar to COVID-19 that never sparked a shutdown. In 2018, 68,000 Americans died of drug overdoses and in 2017 it was even higher with 70,000 succumbing to drug overdoses. In 2018, 10,511 Americans died from drunk drivers. Both deaths from drunk driving and drug overdoses are preventable, but have never received the attention or concern as the Coronavirus or shutting down the U.S. Unintended Consequences of Quarantine Beyond the loss of educational instruction, sports being canceled, and not be able to attend church on Easter, there are even more unintended consequences of quarantine. Due to the shutdown of the U.S. economy, a jaw-dropping 26 million Americans have been laid off, the number of jobs created since after the Recession in 2008 . To combat the Coronavirus Congress first passed an $8.3 billion bill, then to stabilize the economy, Congress passed a $2.2 trillion stimulus bill and another $500 billion stimulus. The nationwide lockdown has already caused the unsustainable U.S. debt to increase from $22 trillion to $24.5 trillion and it will still be on the rise. This leaves future generations indebted. There are many unmentioned social consequences of quarantine. In Indiana, calls to the mental health and suicide hotline skyrocketed from 1,000 to calls to 25,000 calls per day. Another negative impact on mental health the quarantine has led to was an increase in a prescription for anti-depressants by 18.6%, sleeping medications by 14.8%, and anti-anxiety medications up 34.1%. A report from France shows the increase in domestic violence caused by quarantine, domestic violence claims were up 32% in one week (Fox News). Other chronic illnesses that are the leading causes for death in America, like cancer, diabetes, Heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and Dementia cause far more deaths than the Coronavirus (CDC). Sources: Fink, Sheri. “Worst-Case Estimates for U.S. Coronavirus Deaths.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Mar.
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