Is the Cure Worse Than the Disease?

I hope you had a joyous Easter. This was not like any Easter we have ever had before. Our lives have been turned upside down. 

COVID 19 is still front and center in everyone’s mind. The anxiety is building and many are facing financial hardships. Our economy is in trouble and only hard working Americans doing what they do best can fix it.

I am frustrated that our citizens are not able to file for unemployment benefits. The system is overwhelmed and applicants cannot get through electronically or via phone. THERE IS NO EXCUSE. Governor Cooper shut these businesses down and put people out of work. He had a responsibility to have a plan in place to see that they receive benefits. We are in touch with the administration daily and the excuses are getting old. I want to encourage you again to contact me and we will try to help. They do take our calls at least.

We are all frightened. This virus is a scary thing. It has taken the lives of our fellow citizens and changed our country in the worst way. I don’t want to minimize the severity of this disease but I do want to put it in perspective.

I am as frightened as everyone else. The numbers that have been presented,through modeling, have been staggering. Our media and public officials warned us to expect 2 million deaths in the United States. Why wouldn’t we be frightened into near panic? Then the models changed to between 100,00-240,000. Thus far there have been 68,000 deaths worldwide and 22,000 in the U.S. Where is the accountability for these modeling systems? Why do we depend on them if they’re not even close to accurate? Who is responsible?

Every death is tragic and our hearts and prayers are with all of those families. Sadly we have lost 81 citizens in North Carolina.

Did you know that if you catch Coronavirus, there is a 98% chance you will recover? There are models out there, (here we go with models again) that indicate that 50% of the population may have already had it and didn’t know it. Random testing in Iceland determined this 50% population immunity also. These are figures we should hear about.

An article in Real Clear Politics recently pointed out the differences in how Coronavirus has been treated compared to other causes of death. The authors called it an Advantaged Disease. They noted that we have about 157,000 deaths every month in this country, 54,000 due to heart disease, 50,000 to cancer, 14,000 to asthma, bronchitis and emphysema, a number of other causes and nearly 5,000 deaths due to the flu. These happen every month. There is no sympathy for those families in the media headlines and no nightly body count on the evening news.
One thing we do know about the virus is that it is particularly devastating to the older population. Since we’re not doing random testing, we have no idea how contagious this disease is or how many people have been affected. 

I hesitate to point out, for fear of being called insensitive, that we have 4,520 positive Coronavirus cases in NC and a population of 10,500,000. I am not a mathematician but that does not sound like an outrageously high percentage. I am also not a doctor and I know this is not the flu and we cannot compare it to the flu. But I do understand that last flu season, we had 12,000 cases and 208 deaths in NC. Last season, there were 61,000 flu deaths nationwide. And this is pretty typical for most years. Do those deaths not deserve at least a mention?

Do not misunderstand, I know this is serious. I am being as careful as I can be and I am as frightened as everyone else. I am just trying to add some sensibility to an impossible situation.
The Real Clear Politics article pointed out, The Wall Street Journal recently said, “The economic and social science literature is replete with studies that document the harm to people from recessions and economic hardship—including higher rates of suicide, opioid abuse, alcoholism and domestic violence.” Drug treatment centers have already made me aware of the crisis they are expecting. We are not prepared for the social ills and despair that will be inflicted on our citizens if this is prolonged. 

In 2018 there were 67,000 drug overdose deaths in this country. That is also a crisis. Was there talk about suspending constitutional freedoms of 300 million Americans to curb the spread?
The President has said we cannot have a cure worse than the disease. Right now that is questionable. We have destroyed a roaring economy in three weeks that took three years to build. North Carolina is worse. I met last week with a non-partisan Fiscal Analyst at the NC General Assembly who informed us that the State is in a recession. The economy that we have been so proud of has had a train wreck. Our revenues will plummet. The help from the federal government will be a tremendous blessing and we will have to rely on it. At the state level, we can’t print money. We have to pay debts with real CASH from the taxpayers pockets. Right now those pockets are empty.

We cannot go back to the way we were in February. We need to be smart. We must focus on those citizens at high risk and many people will remain isolated. After being frightened out of our wits, of course people will be more careful.

All states are not the same. Some are much worse than others. New York for example has been heavily affected. It is time for each state to make a decision about how to move forward while protecting its citizens.

Some of you will disagree and say that I do not care about people. Nothing is further from the truth. I care about all of the people. I care about those I listed above who won’t be able to handle the devastation and financial ruin that they’re facing. I hear from them everyday. 

The President understands and his instinct is to reopen the country. Let’s hope that Governor Cooper has those same instincts. North Carolina needs to work. We need to be safe and we need to be smart.