Copper Griz said:
The flu virus has a vaccine. The death rate associated with it is far less than with Covid. Are college players going to get sick if they contract Covid? Probably, but most will recover without complications. The real worry is who are they transmitting it to? An elderly at risk individual or just younger kids in their peer group? A virus doesn’t care how young you are, who you hang with or what your bank account says. Transmission is the real risk. Until we get a vaccine we have the debate of -
Let it run its course and infect people until we reach 70-80% and build antibodies OR wear a mask, use very precautionary measures and try to keep hospital beds/ventilators open for patients. I don’t have an answer, but I don’t make light of a situation where people are on their death bed. If your family member was fighting for their life some of you might not have such cavalier attitudes. I hope football happens and it will be a major downer if the season doesn’t commence as usual. It would also be a bigger downer if fellow Americans died because we didn’t have the intestinal fortitude to be responsible and sacrifice for others. Welcome to the generation of me me me. Yes, that generation starts with the boomers.
* If you read the article I posted, it makes very clear that young people have a far far greater chance of dying from pneumonia or flu than they do from covid, so while in general your assertion that covid is deadlier than flu is true across the entire population, it is not true regarding the demographic of (traditional age) college students.
* Yes transmissibility is one of the issues, however I haven't seen evidence that any of the football players who have been found to be positive, actually had any symptoms. As far as I know all cases were found through routine testing. Data indicates that people with very mild symptoms or who are asymptomatic, might not be spreading the virus at all. The WHO even admitted this before they backtracked (because it's what they do). Besides which, testing and quarantine seems to be keeping it from spreading so far among those teams who are returning. If it turns out not to be the case then obviously different decisions would have to be made at that time but in the meantime it seems to be pretty low risk.
* Younger people who are out and about and not quarantining at home probably shouldn't be visiting Grandma right now in any case, and if both parties choose to have interaction anyway then they choose to accept the risks. Life is full of risks every single day, and we all make decisions as to what level of risk we will assume. This is no different.
* Vaccines are tricky. We tend to think of vaccines as a savior like in the case of polio or smallpox but not all vaccines are that effective because viruses mutate. We have had a flu vaccine for years and years and it's still only about 50% effective in any given year. There are zero guarantees that any covid vaccine is going to be produced in any timely manner or that it will be effective or safe enough for the entire population once produced. And yet, it's pretty obvious that we cannot all stay locked up for the foreseeable future. As I said earlier, life has risks. Viruses aren't new. That doesn't mean we are being cavalier about things, just realistic. People in the highest risk group should stay isolated as much as possible but life must go on otherwise (with mitigation measures as needed).
* My post quoted an article that used humor to make a point. Humor has always been used to lift spirits and/or drive home a point, even at the darkest times in history. That doesn't mean anyone is being cavalier with people's lives; it simply means that humans need to laugh a little. Laughter is great medicine.
* I take issue with your "everyone is just selfish now" insinuation. Personal liberty is not selfish - it is the very foundation of our country. Students, athletes, coaches, and fans all have liberty to choose what level of risk they are comfortable with and make their decisions accordingly. Yes, our actions do have consequences for those around us, therefore people should stay home when sick, keep their distance as much at possible, and follow all the other guidelines while still exercising their own free will.
* Finally (bonus tip) - many studies are showing that people who are vitamin D deficient have a much greater chance of severe illness and death from covid than those who have sufficient levels of the vitamin. So make sure Grandma is taking plenty of the stuff.
