A Matter of Perspective

There is so much talk about testing. It really makes me wonder what the big deal is. I mean, let’s say I test negative today. Does that mean next week I will also test negative for COVID-19?

What if I am in a situation where there is just one other person who has COVID-19? Because I tested negative last week, does that therefore follow that I will test negative after my encounter?

I can see if the test shows positive or that you have the antibodies for COVID-19, but what does a negative test really show?

Personally, I don’t feel that the testing is effective. I hear so many stories about how the testing gives false positives, false negatives, false, falser, falsest.

How can we feel “safe” with a bunch of falses?

There are so many opinions about reopening the economy. Some say it’s happening too fast, some say not fast enough.

As a person who is in the compromised list, I don’t feel comfortable at all getting back out into the world. I have gone outside and we have made shopping trips for necessary items, but my granddaughter and I stay in the car.

Now if I get a sniffle, or shortness of breath, a chest pain, any redness in my eyes, a cough or any other of the increasing symptoms of COVID-19 I fear death is imminent. (Not really, but sort of.)

But enough about that. The more I hear, the more I realize that no one really knows enough about this disease to make a fact-filled non-false statement about it.

It isn’t because they aren’t smart enough, it’s because this evolving disease changes so rapidly, we can’t keep up with it.

It seems like every day there is a new symptom to look for. Now it is attacking children in an unusual way. I don’t know about you, but I really think there is something “they” aren’t telling us. I think many states are reopening businesses prematurely because of pressure to do so, not because our states are really ready to handle it at this point.

Even though Stephen King has been quoted as saying he does not want people to compare COVID-19 to his “Captain Trips Super Flu” from his book “The Stand,” I can’t help but make the comparisons. While his super flu was like 94% contagious, it appears that COVID-19 is pretty contagious, too, although I don’t know the percentage.

The super flu had a huge mortality rate. If you got it, you died. While COVID-19 doesn’t appear to be that bad, I have read of people who have ongoing symptoms even after they have been “cured.” That doesn’t mean they will die, but what quality of life will there be if they suffer headaches, fevers, coughs and flu-like symptoms for who knows how long?

I am not trying to be negative, but I also think that jumping back into an open economy without certain assurances that it won’t cause more and more deaths from COVID-19 is like jumping into the middle of the ocean without being able to swim and having no type of life preserver.

With a large population of elderly and immune compromised people, I don’t understand the logic behind reopening. Are we really being smart in regard to this disease?

In my opinion, we are not.