> So you're suggesting that people eliminate all direct human contact [...] > There's no point in trying when failure is inevitable. I didn't ask that you eli

> So you're suggesting that people eliminate all direct human contact [...] > There's no point in trying when failure is inevitable. I didn't ask that you eliminate all human contact. I called you out for telling other people that trying to avoid it is futile and for discouraging others from doing so. In any case, one can still do their best to avoid covid, without necessarily avoiding human contact. Avoiding all human contact is just your straw man, it seems. > a minor respiratory virus with a >99% survival rate It's not the acute phase that matters. I (and most people) don't care about the acute phase. So your patronizing about phobias was not only unnecessary but also widely off the mark. Covid isn't just a respiratory illness, like the common cold, that ends with a 'full' recovery after the acute phase. The post-acute phase* incidence and morbidity is on another level of magnitude. Covid presents as a respiratory illness in its acute phase. In its post-acute phase, covid is vascular and neurological. Some physicians consider it airborne thrombotic vasculitis, since it causes clotting and damage to multiple organ systems after initial infection. For many, post-covid disorders are typically characterized by serious issues such as brain damage--or "brain fog," to be cutesy; postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS); post-exertional malaise (PEM); and myalgic encephalomyelitis-like chronic fatigue--or "fatigue," to be dismissive. So much so that 1/3 of 10 MM job unfilled job vacancies in the US are estimated to be due to long covid absences. *Many other viral illnesses, e.g., dengue virus, HIV, EBV, present post-acute phase issues, so this isn't unique or surprising.