OUR PANDAMIC OF FEAR

With our fixation on the present, it may not come to mind that the COVID-19 Virus is not the last pandemic we’ll encounter. There will be others. Which raises the question of whether our response to this one has been wise.

The pandemic has turned out to be more one of fear than of Coronavirus. In the first days when the infection was unknown, our response was to jump to the worst case scenario. The media reported every death without acknowledging the number of survivors. As the number of survivors has proliferated, the media continues to focus on the deaths.

More evidence is available about the impact of the virus. The Hill reported on a recent Stanford University antibody study which estimates the fatality rate if infected is 0.1 to 0.2 percent. According to it:

— If infected, young adults and children in normal health have almost no risk of serious illness

— Half of all people testing positive for infection have no symptoms at all

— Of fatal cases in New York state, 99.2 percent had underlying illness

And our schools are still closed. Stores. Restaurants. Salons. Churches. Synagogues. Clubs.

We think this response will keep us safe from a minuscule chance of dying from the Coronavirus. Will this keep us safe from our own fear of dying?

Many people now face a fear of losing their homes, of having no money to buy groceries. Our nation faces the possibility of a generation of poorly educated students.

And we think that we are providing for our safety.

Dr. Scott W. Atlas provides a reasonable analysis with suggestions in an article in The Hill.