John R. Houk, Blog Editor
Posted April 30, 2020
Youtube has censored these two California doctors speaking
the truth about the effects of COVID-19. The video in this link is from a local
ABC affiliate in Bakersfield California, so who knows how long this will be up.
Below is first the Facebook abbreviation of the video posted by
Howard Gardner
at the Facebook Group
Anti-Establishment Conservatives.
Doctors Dan Erickson and
Artin Massihi
Below the interview of Doctors Dan Erickson and Artin
Massihi exposing the real statistics on COVID-19 in California is a cross post
of a link sent to me by my loving wife Diana entitled, “
The Truth (and Lies) about Coronavirus”.
That post is by Dr. David Williams and appears to be updated occasionally from
its original post date. Meaning you might to check the original link to see if
something new was updated.
JRH 4/30/20
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Link to Doctors’ Video banned by Youtube
April 29, 2020 9:49 AM
YouTube has gone to great extent to ban this video but,
courtesy of Britt Hume, we have access to it.
For those who may not have time to view it in it's entirety,
I have tried to summarize the various points and the effects of continuing or
discontinuing the present social distancing practices below:
(1) This is not an attack on Dr. Fauci's conclusions as they
were likely the best procedures to follow initially. But remember that this is
not based on on-hands statistics. Dr. Fauci has not seen an actual patient in
over 20 years.
(2) COVID-19 is far more widespread than initially presumed.
Thus the likelihood of dying from it is greatly decreased. In California the
likelihood of dying from COVID-19 is 0.03 (three in 100,000). In Spain it is
0.05. In New York it is 0.1 but that ignores the fact that physicians there are
being pressured to report any death as COVID-19 related (see point #4).
(3) In California ALL infectious disease experts are in
agreement with these findings. The only holdout is Governor Newsome; himself
not a physician.
(4) The state of New York has began pressuring physicians to
report the cause of various deaths as COVID-19. The individual may have died
from smoking cigarettes for 25 years or from pneumonia BUT it is encouraged to
be reported as resulting from COVID-19; more for political reasons that facts.
(5) COVID-19 can survive for three days on plastic. Thus
employees wearing plastic gloves or having plastic shields in restaurant and
grocery stores run a greater risk of spreading the disease than if otherwise
without them.
(6) Social isolation results in the immune system being
weakened. Bacteria is necessary to cause our immune system to develop. Thus
social isolation over a period of three months can make us susceptible to
various other diseases. Failure to be exposed to antogens causes the immune
system to become nullified.
(7) Social isolation also results in a decrease in the
essential vitamin D which comes mostly from sunlight. Consider the following
recommendations regarding vitamin D:
When your skin is exposed to sunlight, it makes vitamin D from cholesterol. The
sun's ultraviolet B (UVB) rays hit cholesterol in the skin cells, providing the
energy for vitamin D synthesis to occur.
Vitamin D has many roles in the body and is essential for
optimal health (
2).
For example, it instructs the cells in your gut to absorb
calcium and phosphorus — two minerals that are essential for maintaining strong
and healthy bones (
3).
- Osteoporosis
- Cancer
- Depression
- Muscle
weakness
- Death
In addition, only a
handful of foods
contain significant amounts of vitamin D and that would require consuming them
at almost impossible levels. .
(8) Biblically speaking the ancient Hebrews banned those
with symptoms of disease; not those who were healthy. We are doing it the
opposite way in regards to COVID-19.
(9) Virus and bacteria are the building blocks of our immune
system. If we completely eliminate them then we become like a new born baby
with no immunity to disease.
(10) By self-isolating for three months or more we break
down our immune system by which normal bacteria and normal flora develop and
protect our bodies from infection. Such will almost certainly be the result
once the social interaction has been resumed.
(11) Continuing to shut down businesses will and already has
been resulting in increases in financial ruin, domestic violence, rape and
suicide. It is unrealistic and dangerous to presume that we can shut down the
economy for two years until we have tested every individual.
(12) Individuals suffering from diabetes, heart disease,
regular flu and various other diseases are being neglected in favor of those
with the much less risky COVID-19.
(13) Governor Huckabee has pointed out that the vast
majority of those in support of continuing social distancing are government
workers who are still receiving a pay check. He also suggests that to force our
governing bodies to do without their own pay checks will end the social
distancing almost immediately.
(14) Based on present statistics it would be healthier for
children to get back into the schools so that they can continue developing
their immune systems.
(15) Individuals who exhibit symptoms of illness should be
isolated. Those who do not should be getting back to work.
(16) Going outside is healthy as it develops the immune
system, makes recreation more likely and, as noted previously, allows for
sunlight to produce vitamin D in the system.
(17) Continuing social distancing will greatly affect the
November election and that may well be the reason why politicians with no
medical background are acting like physicians. At stake are future court
appointees; including a major appointment of one or more SCOTUS members which
will likely decide if an informed consent bill is passed in all 50 states. if
Roe v Wade is declared unconstitutional. AND if certain political leaders are
called into account for their various crimes (Bill &Hillary?).
++++
Accelerated Urgent Care doctors recommend lifting
shelter-in-place order
[Local Video while it lasts]
Posted at 4:15 PM, Apr 22, 2020 and last
updated 10:06 PM, Apr 27, 2020
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Doctors and co-owners of Accelerated
Urgent Care in Bakersfield say it may not be necessary anymore for residents to
shelter-in-place.
Doctors Dan Erickson and Artin Massihi said their facilities
have tested over 5,200 patients for the coronavirus throughout the county,
making up for over half of all testing in Kern. According to their data, the
death rate of the coronavirus is similar in prevalence to the flu.
"Now that we have the facts," said Dr. Erickson.
"It's time to get back to work."
Erickson said he believes businesses could reopen and as
testing continues, people could start going back to work. In fact, Erickson
suggests that staying at home too long could be even worse for people's health.
"we understand microbiology, we understand immunology
and we want strong immune systems," Erickson said. "I don't want to
stay in my home and develop a weak immune system and then come out and get a
disease."
Erickson said Accelerated Urgent Care have been in
communication with the Kern County Public Health Department and discussed
whether the state should reopen. In response, public health has offered the
following statement:
In our ongoing effort to
mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on our residents and healthcare system, we
continue to adhere to the guidance issued by Governor Newsom regarding the stay
at home order.
Kern County Public Health Services recommends the following protective
measures:
Stay at home except for essential needs.
Practice social distancing.
Wash hands with soap and water often.
Avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands.
Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or your elbow.
Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
Stay away from work, school or other people if you become sick.
Wear face covering while in public if you are unable to maintain social
distancing.
+++++++++++++++++++++
The Truth (and Lies) about
Coronavirus
Primary Author: David Williams, MD
Original date: April 19, 2020
Revised April 23 with updates to section regarding
COVID-19 deaths and the addendum.
This is being written on April 19, 2020. Although there is a
central author, it is being written on behalf of multiple physicians in West
Alabama and will be distributed through multiple medical offices. Between us we
have well over a hundred years of practice and have treated hundreds of
thousands of patients suffering infectious diseases. Including mission trips we
have treated patients on five continents. We planned this date for several
reasons. First, most of our patients now realize there is something “funny”
about the coverage and handling of this disease. Secondly, if it wasn’t being
handled differently by April 19, we knew it would take action from us and our
patients to change that handling. Finally, we were told in March by our state
officials that experts predicted New York, Florida, Texas, and Alabama were
projected to have the median most fatalities from the COVID-19 outbreak with
the peak in Alabama expected to be April 19. On this date, Alabama was supposed
to be on pace for 5,516 deaths and be short over 21,000 hospital beds. The
information just listed, and every piece of information discussed below, can be
verified with a quick internet search. Many of the sources will be directly
referenced. So here goes:
TRUTH: COVID-19 is an actual medical disease that will
lead to tragic deaths.
Although this seems obvious, it should be clear that no one
involved wishes to express anything but sympathy to those affected and their
families. Respiratory failure is a terrible way to die. That is true if that
death is due to asthma, COPD, pneumonia, influenza, smoke inhalation, cystic
fibrosis, ALS, or COVID-19.
LIE: We don’t know much about coronavirus.
This is one of the media’s favorite lies. It is much scarier if it is unknown.
We know that coronavirus is a zoonotic disease. In other words, it’s natural
hosts are birds and animals as opposed to humans. We vaccinate domestic animals
for them. We know that four forms cause colds every year. We know it mutates
and evolves just like the flu. We know it sometimes becomes deadly as it has in
SARS and MERS. We have done medical studies on coronavirus as a coexisting
illness in patients in the past.
LIE: COVID-19 is more infectious than influenza.
This is one of two lies most often quoted by the millions who call national
radio programs or post on social media. It is amazing how many people with absolutely
no medical training somehow feel qualified to comment on this disease. Now, we
want to be more fair than the national media so we are obligated to report
there will never be a study where 1,000 people eat after people with the flu
and 1,000 others eat after people with COVID-19 to see which one is more
infectious. But the evidence is overwhelming. COVID-19 was first identified
late December/early January. A little over three and a half months in, we have
slightly over 2 million confirmed cases globally. By comparison, according to
the National Center for Biotechnology Information (Google Influenza Update-
NCBI), influenza is responsible for up to a billion infections annually. Flu
season is basically from the start of October until April. At the flu’s three
and a half month mark, that works out to 583 million cases globally. Even
accounting for the fact COVID-19 is underreported that is a HUGE difference.
However, there is even further evidence influenza is more
infectious. Drawing from our own (meaning everyone reading this) experiences,
when influenza gets started in a daycare or elementary school, they often have
to be closed for a short time because otherwise everyone gets it. All the kids,
workers, teachers, and parents. The most students in one class we could
remember was 23 of 25 out at the same time with the flu. Certainly, daycare
classes in both Tuscaloosa and Jefferson counties have been closed this year.
Contrast that to what you know about coronavirus. The NBA tested hundreds of
players, staff, and media to come up with 14 cases. The vast majority did not
contract the virus at all. The most extreme case in terms of possible COVID-19
exposure we could find was the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. If you
have never toured a military ship, space is at a premium. Very tight and
crowded conditions. Secondary to this, hundreds of crew would become infected.
So 4,800 men and women were exposed to multiple individuals with the virus
several times a day, day after day. Despite that constant exposure, 4,140 (or
over 86%) of those sailors would never even contract the disease.
To address the possible rebuttals, it is absolutely true we
don’t know the true number of COVID-19 cases. It doesn’t make the average
person under 60 sick so we will never account for all of those. However, it
doesn’t even infect the average person with a healthy immune system who comes
in contact with it, so the number can only be so high. It is true that testing
has not been available everywhere the entire three and a half months but we are
making up for that by testing generously now. Locally, DCH had tested 3,105 by
April 17, 2,958 of which were negative.
LIE: COVID-19 is more dangerous than influenza.
The second lie of the medically uninformed. Even among those
who do contract COVID-19, most under 60, including virtually everyone under 21,
will never know they had it. On the USS Theodore Roosevelt, 60% were
asymptomatic. Of the 2 million people who have tested positive for COVID-19
globally, most have had mild to no symptoms. By the three and half month mark
of flu season, the flu had resulted in over 2 million severe cases requiring
hospitalization. Influenza results in 290,000 to 670,000 deaths annually.
COVID-19 deaths will be discussed below.
LIE: The fact one doesn’t know he or she has
COVID-19 makes it more dangerous.
All viruses shed and are primarily spread while the infected
host is asymptomatic. Repeat, all viruses do this. We use the term virulence to
describe how dangerous a virus is. The more virulent, the more likely to cause
infection or more severe symptoms. One’s chance of becoming infected with
anything is multifactorial. In other words, lots of things come into play. The
infectiousness and quantity of the pathogen comes into play. Your level of
rest, nutrition, stress, age, and general health come into play as well. In the
case of influenza, if you contract it you are going to get sick. There will
never be a time where the NBA tests hundreds of players and staff to find 14
cases of influenza – two with mild symptoms and twelve with no symptoms. If you
get influenza, even if you are Michael Jordan (who had perhaps the most famous
flu game of all time), you are going to know. That is because the flu is so
virulent that in 24 to 48 hours it overwhelms even the immune system of a
healthy adult and you develop symptoms. But in that 24 hours it is
multiplying, everyone around you is at risk. Depending on the exact exposure,
the risk goes from high probability to certainty of contracting. For instance,
if a high school student kisses their boyfriend or girlfriend during that day,
they are getting the flu, period. But COVID-19 is so much less virulent it
usually never overcomes the immune system of a healthy adult. Yes, they will
shed this virus for up to 2 weeks, but most people around them still won’t get
it. Since we are in West Alabama, let’s use a football example. Think of the
healthy adult immune system as Alabama’s 2019 football team. Influenza is LSU’s
2019 football team. It only took one exposure to LSU to record a loss. COVID-19
is closer to Arkansas’ 2019 football team, maybe Ole Miss. Alabama could have
played them 14 times and were less likely to lose than the one game with LSU.
It is possible to record a loss, with some fumbles and a blocked punt, etc. but
way less likely.
TRUTH: COVID-19 is more dangerous to the elderly
and immunocompromised.
TRUTH: That doesn’t really mean anything in and of
itself because everything is more dangerous to those unfortunate individuals.
It does mean we should try to protect those individuals from
infections in general.
TRUTH: It is now almost impossible for anyone in
the general public or general medical community to know the actual number of
deaths from COVID-19.
That is because sometime in March US hospitals started
testing all ER patients and every patient who died, regardless of cause of
death, for COVID-19. Those patients are being included by the media in COVID-19
death tolls. Yes, a victim of a car accident brought to a US ER who passes away
will be tested for COVID-19. Two of the most egregious examples of
misrepresentation involve infants. One of the fascinating things about
coronaviruses from a medical standpoint is children are almost universally
immune to deleterious effects. A study from back in 2004-2005 was conducted in
which swabs were done in both controls and children hospitalized for
respiratory illness. The incidence of coronavirus was the same for controls and
hospitalized children and the conclusion was HCoV (coronavirus) infection was
not associated with hospitalization or with increased severity of illness in
those hospitalized due to other infections. Search NIH if you want to review
these findings. Obviously, COVID-19 is not included in that study since it was
first identified recently. However, COVID-19 has not been associated with
pediatric illness anywhere. Not China, South Korea, Italy, or Spain. So on
March 29 when BuzzFeed.News and an Illinois paper, The Guardian, led with the
headline “The First Infant Has Died In The US After Testing Positive For The Coronavirus,”
it caught our attention. The article goes on to say the infant’s death was
announced by Governor JB Pritzker and, depending on which article you read,
either Pritzker, or Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of
Public Health, said: “If you haven’t been paying attention (to COVID-19), maybe
this is your wake-up call.” On April 2, CBS News reported Connecticut Governor
Ned Lamont had announced “It is with heartbreaking sadness today that we can
confirm the first pediatric fatality in Connecticut linked to COVID-19.” He
went on to say it was likely one of the youngest deaths from the disease
“anywhere.” The problem is neither death has actually been attributed to
COVID-19. On April 3, the Hartford Courant correctly clarified that all
patients who die in Connecticut hospitals were being tested for the virus,
regardless of manner of death, and that Connecticut’s Chief Medical Examiner
had not ruled COVID-19 to be the infant’s cause of death. Just yesterday, April
18, NBC 5 Chicago reported Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr.
Allison Arwady said it is preliminarily believed the infant in Illinois did not
die from coronavirus.
New York is also a source of great misinformation. On March
22, Sky News ran footage of a hospital in Italy. On March 25, CBS This Morning
ran the same footage. However, they claimed it was filmed in New York. Citizen
reporters by the dozens have recorded empty testing tents and idle ambulance
crews when the national media has reported hours long waits at the same testing
sites and overstretched ambulance crews. You can find those videos on Youtube,
although they don’t always make it easy. But there are enough people interested
in getting the truth out there they are consistently reposted. At the time of
publishing this link was successful
https://youtu.be/MOBKyCY2esw.
On April 14, the New York Times reported New York City officials at the Health
Department had increased its death toll by 3,700 who NEVER TESTED POSITIVE for
the virus. They were “presumed” to have died from it.
REVISED April 23, 2020.
This is actually much worse than we thought. According to
worldometers.info from January 1 to April 1, 2020 the worldwide deaths from
COVID-19 were 46,438 as opposed to 121,993 for influenza. To recap, during the
same three months, with the same social distancing, the same shelter in place,
and even handicapped with a vaccine against it, the flu still killed more than
two and a half times as many people as COVID-19. In terms of deciding to shut
down the economy, there were 11 causes of death on the list. Influenza
and COVID-19 were ranked a distant 10th and 11th. On March 23, 2020, a Vox.com
article by Dylan Scott outlined COVID-19 risks by age group. CDC figures cited
a death rate of 2.7 percent for those 65 to 74, 4.3 percent for those 75 to 84,
and 10.4 percent for those 85 and over.
How does a virus that killed 46,438 globally in three months
(and which about 96% of those 75 to 84, and 90% of those 85 and older survive)
suddenly kill 143,984 in the next three weeks, according the same worldometers.info?
On April 2nd, 2020, the National Vitals Statistics System,
which is part of the CDC, provided new guidance regarding the issuing of death
certificates. COVID-19 was to be listed if it was assumed to cause or
contribute to a death. For example, if someone dies from pneumonia, respiratory
distress, or COPD, and has exhibited coronavirus symptoms, their certificate
will list COVID-19 as a presumed contributing factor. Since shortness of
breath, fever, and/or cough will be exhibited in all respiratory illnesses,
every such death could potentially be recorded as a COVID-19 fatality. This
certainly appears to be happening across the board. We have never seen
any disease handled in this way. Any medical professional who can provide an
example of similar protocol is encouraged to share such a case. It completely
defies any scientific method to work based on assumption. Even doctors opposed
to reopening the economy should be upset because we will never have accurate
numbers concerning this disease. To complicate matters further, if your city
attributes enough deaths to COVID-19, it can request billions of dollars of
federal aid.
TRUTH: The current policies instituted by our
local, state, and national governments are causing greater health problems than
the virus ever will.
According to the Wall Street Journal, 22 million Americans
have filed for unemployment in just four weeks. When you consider spouses and
children, it seems reasonable that up to 70 million Americans would be affected
by that number. Staying at home is not without consequence. Those individuals
are at significantly higher risk of depression, suicide, domestic abuse, and
other mental health issues. The stress is making them more likely to become ill
from all manner of disease. Many have lost their insurance. Some will become
divorced. Hundreds of thousands of medical procedures have been cancelled or
delayed.
There is another threat to our health. Rural hospitals have
closed in large numbers is recent years. The situation with COVID-19 has placed
many more community hospitals of all sizes at risk. Most are relatively empty
and are bleeding cash.
TRUTH: The media as a whole has grossly
misrepresented this disease.
We felt if we used the word “deliberately” we may have to
present this as an opinion, but it sure appears deliberate. A couple of
national examples include the CBS This Morning story referenced above and
yesterday’s CNN story. The headline read “Jacksonville beach packed as Florida
coronavirus cases hit record” and they ran a photo taken in the past of a Los
Angeles County beach to show the crowd. Locally, on April 14, local news
outlets used the headline, “Mayor Walt Maddox to Pitch Plan to Re-open
Tuscaloosa on April 28th.” While not technically untrue, that sounds like the
plan is to re-open the city on April 28th. In reality, it should have read, “On
April 28, Mayor Walt Maddox to Pitch Plan to Re-open Tuscaloosa,” because no
plan is even to be presented until April 28. A Tuscaloosa News headline today
read “Prison system reports COVID-19 death.” You had to read the article to
find the 66 year-old victim was already terminally ill and had been
hospitalized since April 4th in critical care for his preexisting conditions.
He only tested positive on the last day of his life.
OPINION: The way in which the media has pushed
fear nonstop amounts to psychological warfare against this country.
If it hasn’t occurred to you that we have heard one story
and essentially one story alone for literally two months, well, that should
have aroused suspicion.
TRUTH: The media will continue to fight reopening
of this country by stating “experts” predict a spike in deaths if we do so.
We would assume those are the same experts who initially
predicted 2.2 million US deaths, revised to 200,000, then 100,000, then 60,000,
then ordered testing all US deaths just in case they had coronavirus because we
weren’t on pace for even 30,000 prior to that change in policy.
TRUTH: Not every country has shut down their
economy, and none of those countries have suffered higher rates of death
because they have kept their economy going.
One of the searches done prior to putting this together
related to countries who kept their businesses open. One of the lowest
mortality rates in the entire world is Japan, who fits that description.
Looking for the country with the highest mortality rate and an open economy, we
came across an article with a very liberal bent that described two Scandinavian
countries. It described how uncaring Sweden was as it conducted business as
usual while Denmark cared for its’ people and shut down. The expected mortality
rate for Sweden was 69 per million whereas Denmark was 39 per million. If you
take 69 and multiply it by 340 (for 340 million people in the United States) it
comes out to 23,640, or about 15,000 fewer people than we are expected to lose
to the flu this year.
OPINION: Medical organizations have failed this
country.
Literally every doctor in America should know everything
listed above. So why haven’t organizations like the AMA and AAFP, as well as
state organizations, presented this information to their governors and the
President?
TRUTH: China is involved, but not how you think.
We can not tell you how many times people have expressed
consternation about not knowing what China is hiding. Generally, they feel it
is horrific death numbers or the genesis story of the virus. China withheld
information about the virulence of COVID-19. They knew they had cases of
asymptomatic individuals, possibly hundreds of thousands such patients. By not
including this data it changed the mortality rate greatly. Initial terror
regarding COVID-19 was a 4% mortality rate in China. Most would now concede the
mortality rate is less than 0.2% given the high number of asymptomatic
patients. Meanwhile, the Chinese are buying property in affected areas,
particularly Italy, and likely not unhappy with what is happening in America
given their trade battles with President Trump.
TRUTH: The NBA cancelled their season voluntarily,
with no external domestic pressures, and China is a huge market for them.
Their financial interests in China were threatened after a
single tweet from Houston GM Daryl Morey in October supporting Hong Kong
protestors. After literally a single runny nose, the NBA cancelled their season
and proceeded to test hundreds of healthy individuals looking for COVID-19. We
find it fascinating no one in the media, and certainly no one at ESPN, has
asked questions about that behavior.
TRUTH: People are lazy, or they have an agenda.
Not only did the media not ask pertinent questions about the
NBA, they have not reached out to knowledgeable health professionals even when
they were provided the names and contacts of such individuals. If the narrative
did not fit COVID-19 terror, it was ignored. We know this has happened both
locally and nationally. Local, state, and national politicians have done the
same thing. All of the information here is readily available. So if any elected
official has said anything along the lines of “as a leader, I feel a
responsibility to keep people safe,” to support restrictions on you or local
businesses, ask that official what research he or she was basing his or her
decision on. The general public is lazy. They read headlines. Grossly
misleading headlines. So when you pass this on, you will have to insist people
actually read the whole thing.
TRUTH: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is making a
fortune, and he wants you to stay home.
In addition to owning Amazon, he owns the Washington Post.
Just read any headline or article it has ever written regarding a plan to
reopen the economy. Do with that information what you will, but we hope it
means you stop ordering from Amazon and support local businesses instead.
TRUTH: COVID-19 has been treated like a
world-ender; it’s not even remotely close.
As mentioned earlier, it has infected just over 2 million
people in the world. Not killed 2 million people. Actually, not even made 2
million sick. Just infected. So it is 76 million short of infecting 1% of the
world’s population. It is 998 million short of infecting as many as influenza
has this year, the vast majority of which are sicker than the average
coronavirus patient. The world has never shut down for any disease before. And
it chose this one to do so?
TRUTH: Quarantine is a period or place of
isolation in which people who have been exposed or infected with a contagious
disease are placed.
The government has used it to impose shelter in place on
healthy individuals and close businesses. There are words for that, but
quarantine is not one of those words.
TRUTH: This is not a medical crisis, but a
political crisis.
There is a saying in politics, “never waste a crisis,” and
this is apparently true even if the crisis is fabricated. We briefly debated
leaving out politics, but the reality is most have already figured this out and
there is no explaining the phenomenon that is COVID-19 hysteria without talking
politics. In short, Democrats attempted to impeach Trump late in 2019 and
failed. Shortly after a State of the Union address in which he touted
considerable economic success, COVID-19 was made front and center by the media.
Most probably feel both parties have failed us but there is no debating which
party is most responsible for pushing the fear. Every time President Trump
argues for reopening, the press and the Democrats gnash their teeth and talk
higher death tolls. The governors of Illinois and Connecticut who incorrectly
reported infant deaths are Democrat. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, who
has gone so far as to restrict her state’s residents from mowing their lawns
and planting flowers, is a Democrat. Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards, who
threatened to permanently take licenses from open businesses and organize a
special police task force to arrest anyone in groups of more than ten, is a
Democrat.
Mayor Walt Maddox is a Democrat. He told us in March that if
he did nothing Tuscaloosa County would experience 3,686 deaths due to COVID-19.
Think about that for just a second. It was first identified in Wuhan, China, a
city of over 11 million people. China has a population of 1.4 billion and at
the time of his presentation, COVID-19 had killed a little over 3,200 in the
entire country. Tuscaloosa County has a population of just under 184,000 and is
considerably less densely populated than Wuhan, China. That number is not only
meant to do nothing except incite fear but indicates a serious lack of insight
and judgement.
TRUTH: The Alabama coronavirus numbers presented
in the opening paragraph appear to be way off.
We are nowhere near 5,000 deaths. In fact, we currently have
only 4,700 total cases and 113 deaths. Tuscaloosa County has yet to experience
a single death. DCH reports five or fewer inpatients in the ICU (they will only
report units of five to protect privacy) being treated for COVID-19 with five
or fewer on ventilators. Again, every such patient is significant, but we are
thankful the numbers are so small. While we recognize some may feel those
numbers are smaller due to social distancing and/or shelter in place orders,
COVID-19 numbers have not been affected by those behaviors when compared to
countries where they were not employed.
TRUTH: If you love your children, enjoy sports, or
know anyone who owns or is employed by a small business you should be angry.
Very angry. We can absolutely take steps to protect the
elderly and vulnerable, but everything should reopen immediately. Millions of
high school seniors have been deprived graduations and proms. Millions of high
school athletes have lost their spring season. Thousands of NCAA athletes have
lost the same. Some will permanently lose their programs altogether due to
financial issues associated with the coronavirus response. Your kids are at
home when they should be with their teachers and classmates. Your neighbors
have been prevented from working and businesses built over decades or
generations have been lost or threatened. Absolutely NONE of it was or is necessary.
TRUTH: Nothing will change unless it is demanded.
Seriously, take this, repost it, and act on it. It will have
to happen nationwide. Call mayors, governors, representatives, senators. Call
back the next day. Email them. Email these facts. Verify for yourself which
facts you are comfortable utilizing. DO NOT BE LAZY. Call radio stations, TV
stations, national news outlets. Send it to medical organizations like the AMA
and AAFP. It needs to happen by the thousands. They clearly aren’t paying
attention. Or they assume you aren’t.
ADDENDUM:
I would like to address a few of the concerns and criticisms
this document has received. I am changing from we to I because I am speaking
only for myself. Primary criticism has been either:
1) how do we know this is
true/qualification issues or
2) it is a political piece.
The first criticism simply validates one of the main points
of the document. This information can be verified and was valid at the time of
publication. Most of the time, you were told exactly where you could find it.
The complete lack of effort the public has shown to educate themselves about
this virus has contributed to the terror it has created. It really shouldn’t
matter who wrote it if the information is valid. I am not an epidemiologist,
but, for the record, it was reviewed by one and he agreed.
The second criticism I can at least understand. The
objective of the paper was not to be political but to recognize the role it
plays in behaviors related to the virus. Frankly, I have never been able to
successfully explain why we are hearing so much about a virus that doesn’t make
most people sick without involving the politics (and I have tried, and that
information is also available). However, I may not have done as well as I could
have in conveying that. I am not happy with either party’s handling of the
issue. I have had political discussions with patients of every race and
persuasion and said the same. Both parties have failed us. I haven’t voted for
somebody in way too long. I have voted against somebody else. I have told
everyone that has to change if we are going to make it. My primary political
concerns are reduced health care premiums, lower deductibles, less expensive
drugs, lower taxes, taking care of the environment, and smaller government. We
should take care of ourselves and each other. It is my opinion, though, that
the media and the Democratic Party are most responsible for pushing the fear
and trying to keep us from reopening the economy. The point of the paper is to
suppress fear, dispense information, and reopen the economy. Yesterday (April
21), Texas’ Governor and Lt. Governor called for reopening their state and the
country. The article in The Hill goes on to say Texas has nearly 29 million
people with 19,458 having tested positive for coronavirus and 495 fatalities.
The response of Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa was that they
“would put Texans at-risk to enrich themselves and their stock portfolios.”
“They would see our family members die to bail out Wall Street,” Hinojosa said.
“The lives of our families, our friends, and our communities have no dollar
amount. Texas Republicans can no longer claim to be the pro-life party
anymore.” You can draw your own conclusions. I based mine on statements such as
those.
REVISED April 23, 2020.
For those who question whether I am truly anti-fear, as
opposed to having another agenda, President Trump disagreed “strongly” with Georgia
Governor Brian Kemp’s decisions to reopen certain businesses in his state. I
strongly agree with Governor Kemp.
_________________________________
Accelerated Urgent Care
doctors recommend lifting shelter-in-place order
Copyright associated 23ABC
Bakersfield: Copyright 2020 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. [Blog Editor: I did not
receive permission hence the portion related to 23ABC will be removed if asked
to do so.]
__________________________
The Truth (and Lies) about
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