‘A whole lot of hurt’: Fauci warns of covid-19 surge
“We’re in for a whole lot of hurt. It’s not a good situation,” Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s leading infectious-disease expert, said in a wide-ranging interview late Friday. “All the stars are aligned in the wrong place as you go into the fall and winter season, with people congregating at home indoors. You could not possibly be positioned more poorly.”
Fauci, a leading member of the government’s coronavirus response, said the United States needed to make an “abrupt change” in public health practices and behaviors. He said the country could surpass 100,000 new coronavirus cases a day and predicted rising deaths in the coming weeks. He spoke as the nation set a new daily record Friday with more than 98,000 cases. As hospitalizations increase, deaths are also ticking up, with more than 1,000 reported Wednesday and Thursday, bringing the total to more than 230,000 since the start of the pandemic, according to health data analyzed by The Washington Post.
"We are going to be in a whole lot of hurt," is the warning from Fauci, while Trump says, "we are turning the corner." He says the numbers are inflated. Who people believe these days seems closely related to their political views and bias.
Many Trump supporters worship him like a god. So, his supporters are going to support Trump even if it's to their demise. On the other end of the spectrum, some have strong feelings in opposition. This group of people will disagree with him because his mouth is open. You know who you are.
Let's say you are neither, and you legitimately don't know what to believe with these conflicting messages.
My opinion is worth a penny or two, so here it is…
My Perspective
There is usually some truth on both sides. Trump claims the hospital death reports are inaccurate, stating they claim more deaths as covid deaths. If money is involved, there may be some truth to that at some facilities. Is it so inflated that you would call it fake news? I hope not. Trump's primary concern is the health of the economy. He downplays the virus to counteract all the media attention Covid gets. Maybe Trump knows if the economy has a complete collapse, this can result in many deaths too. Think back to the Great Depression. He wants to 'will' everything okay.
What about Fauci? Does he incite fear? Maybe. In an attempt to get people to listen to him, he may feel he needs to make statements like, "we are going to be in a world of hurt." Fauci's primary concern is human life right now and advising to save lives from the current threat, Covid-19.
Where does this leave us? We are left deciding who to believe and what's the smart thing to do about Covid for ourselves.
It's always a good idea to evaluate the facts for ourselves and not blindly follow an individual. I'm a business owner, so having people willing to do business is vital to me. I use the income to feed my kids and manage their medical needs. We also have 20 plus employees that count on that income to care for their families. I also have a diabetic, 70-year-old mother and realize the risks of COVID to her. I have a daughter who, at one point, was diagnosed pre-diabetic. I have a friend with emphysema that I would like to continue with us.
Evaluating the current circumstances, coupled with 20 years in healthcare: I say we take the proper precautions to prevent COVID and carry-on as much as possible. We social distance, don't have large gatherings, wash our hands, and stay home when we are sick. We quarantine even within your household if you know you have been in a compromising situation. The CDC has reported that people contract most cases of Covid from home. One member gets it and spreads it to other family members at home, where we let our guard down. I assume some of the most important people live under our roofs. Take precautions to protect them. For example, my daughter took her SAT a few weeks ago at her high school with several known COVID cases. We are talking hours of sitting in a room with students who were potentially exposed to COVID. Before she headed for the test, we discussed she would be quarantined for 14 days after her test. When she left her room, she wore a mask and limited her contact with everyone else. We spent time on the porch during that time. I have my high-risk mother living with me, and it was an unacceptable risk. I knew she was likely not infected as she took precautions, but it's an environment you would never put a high-risk 70-year-old. Everywhere we go, she goes in theory if we don't take the precautions to protect her.
Just be smart about COVID. If you know you have been in questionable situations, avoid high-risk people. My family and I left during a hurricane threat because I thought we might be without electricity for an extended time. I rented an apartment for us to stay in for about a week. Upon arriving, they have double booked the unit, and I have to pivot to a sizeable commercial hotel with 20 floors in the heart of downtown Austin. We were traveling up and down the elevator with people. I had battery trouble and ended up taking a Lyft a few times and riding with the AAA guy to the parking garage. The whole time, I was using precautions as much as possible, but we had significant increased exposure. We stayed away from others for the next two weeks. We picked up groceries, but we refused any social invitations and refrained from offering rides.
The bottom line is, know the facts, and use common sense to help reduce the spread of Covid and protect yourself and your family.
Read more about how to be COVID SMART.
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