We’re now about five months into the pandemic. We have found out a lot . It is not a killer similar to the Spanish flu or the Black Death. Only about 5% of the people who get it succumb, and most are old or otherwise health impaired.
According to the CDC, about one-third of COVID-19 deaths are 85 or older, and some 80% are 65 or older, even though the over-65 group only accounts for 17% of our population. In all age groups, pneumonia is a bigger killer than COVID-19. Worse, pneumonia kills more younger people.
Since February, COVID-19 has killed about 220 people per day, compared to 7,400 who die in the United States every day from all causes. Since February, we have found that it is highly contagious, but also highly survivable. We have also found that it is not fading in the warmer months, so it’s time to get our heads out of the sand and get on with life.
Of course, we should be careful, but not panicky. The cliché, “Better that we go to lockdown than one life be lost,” is mainstream nonsense.
Dick RiethmillerPagosa Springs
