3 ms·

> Yes, covid is a little bit more deadly, but other than, why don't we just accept it as part of our lives like we did with the flu? Primarily because our heal

> Yes, covid is a little bit more deadly, but other than, why don't we just accept it as part of our lives like we did with the flu? Primarily because our health infrastructure has no capacity as is. Most places are really struggling, both with space and staff. Add to that the PTSD a lot of healthcare workers will be dealing with for decades to come. And losing 1-3% of our total population isn't great. But to your point: we will end up living with COVID as an endemic, so long as more people get vaccinated. We need to look at global vaccination rates beyond just local ones, too, as variants will continue to mutate throughout the world. With the vast, vast majority of folks winding up in the hospital being unvaccinated--taking up space, time and money--we're going to be struggling for a while. And COVID patients are impacting the capacity for people to get routine check ups, and in some locations emergency work, done. It's bad for everyone. Until the numbers are low enough that our doctors and nurses aren't being pushed beyond their limit, we can't consider it sustainable.

nradov 5y ago
COVID-19 is a serious public health problem but let's not exaggerate the risk. There was never any realistic chance of losing 3% of our population. The CDC estimated the fatality rate at 0.6% back when very few people were vaccinated. Now with widespread vaccination the fatality rate is much lower. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/burden.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/burd...
- metamet 5y ago
  Fair enough. I was using a range in order to address other countries as well. Early on, before we had the vaccine and ways to help reduce mortality, the WHO said: > Globally, about 3.4% of reported COVID-19 cases have died. By comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1% of those infected. https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---3-march-2020 https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-dir... We know this number was likely under-reporting the total cases, due to asymptomatic cases we didn't test for, but I think a range of 1-3% mortality for COVID, letting it go unchecked, is reasonable. This isn't even accounting for variants, as Delta evidenced. Deaths will climb as our hospitals become encumbered, so we can't rely on the low-range estimates if fewer people are able to receive treatment. This is why we can't just accept COVID as something we live with and do nothing about quite yet.
- dham 5y ago
  It's very well possible if we let it rip the fatality rate could have been even lower. Isolate older population let everyone run about get it and we're done. Then let older/obese people back out after vaccinations.

nradov 5y ago

COVID-19 is a serious public health problem but let's not exaggerate the risk. There was never any realistic chance of losing 3% of our population. The CDC estimated the fatality rate at 0.6% back when very few people were vaccinated. Now with widespread vaccination the fatality rate is much lower. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/burden.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/burd...

metamet 5y ago
Fair enough. I was using a range in order to address other countries as well. Early on, before we had the vaccine and ways to help reduce mortality, the WHO said: > Globally, about 3.4% of reported COVID-19 cases have died. By comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1% of those infected. https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---3-march-2020 https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-dir... We know this number was likely under-reporting the total cases, due to asymptomatic cases we didn't test for, but I think a range of 1-3% mortality for COVID, letting it go unchecked, is reasonable. This isn't even accounting for variants, as Delta evidenced. Deaths will climb as our hospitals become encumbered, so we can't rely on the low-range estimates if fewer people are able to receive treatment. This is why we can't just accept COVID as something we live with and do nothing about quite yet.
dham 5y ago
It's very well possible if we let it rip the fatality rate could have been even lower. Isolate older population let everyone run about get it and we're done. Then let older/obese people back out after vaccinations.