By Peter Pavarini
COVID-19 is a problem that is better tackled by a population unified by their common interest in protecting the public health than one deeply divided by alarmism about calamities that may never materialize consistent with hyper-partisan expectations.
The Latest Threat to Public Health.
Where are the honest scientists when we need them?
This week has brought increased focus on the public’s growing distrust of news said to be based on “hard science” – in this case the medical and public health science surrounding the COVID-19 virus. As much as we are expected to believe all that has been communicated about the spread and potential consequences of this disease, the public has ample reason to wonder whether what’s being reported has been sensationalized for political purposes.
As far back as the swine flu scare of the 1970s, public health officials, supported by the science community, have periodically warned of diseases that potentially could claim millions of lives. Not knowing which new virus might result in a pandemic like the Spanish Flu which killed more than 50 million people worldwide, our political leaders (regardless of party) are wise to use an abundance of caution when dealing with such issues. Consequently, over the past 50 years, the U.S. has become the most prepared country in the world relative to infectious disease.
The primary difference between the ongoing experience with COVID-19 and other public health emergencies like the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak (12,469 deaths in the US), 2003 SARS (774 deaths worldwide), 2014 Ebola (2 deaths in the US), and MERS (845 deaths worldwide through 2019) is what scientists now know about the fatality rate of those who contract this novel disease. Compared with other viral outbreaks, the death rate from COVID-19 appears to be fairly low (between 1 and 3%).[i] Ebola kills between 25% and 90% of those who contract it, depending on the locus of the outbreak. SARS and MERS, which are members of the coronavirus family that includes COVID-19, have mortality rates of 10% and 35% respectively.
Although the science surrounding COVID-19 is rapidly developing, this new respiratory ailment does not appear to be the killer others have been over the past 100 years. The greatest uncertainty remains how quickly and widely it spreads. Of course, that can make the fatality rate – whatever it winds up being -catastrophic in the long run.
Political and Economic Ramifications.
Those are some of the facts. Now, for the spin. Since the coronavirus story first broke several weeks ago, there was virtually nothing in the mainstream and alternative media about what the average person could do about COVID-19. Not until I found a well-written article in the British Press[ii] did I have any idea what to look out for in terms of symptoms or how to protect myself and loved ones. Once the U.S. media determined they had enough to fan the story into a firestorm, they did so with relish – contributing to a massive sell-off in the financial markets and still another round of partisan finger-pointing. I can’t help but think that a big part of the hysteria of the past several days was done with the primaries and upcoming presidential election in mind. Sorry, politics should play no role in how we educate the public about a threat to their health.
A few outspoken members of Congress may claim that Vice President Mike Pence is the wrong guy to head up the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak because he allegedly “does not believe in science”, but if there’s really a war on science, it centers mostly on the left hand side of the political divide.[iii] I need not remind the reader that countless lives would never have been lost to dengue fever or the Zika virus had Silent Spring, Rachel Carson’s environmental tirade about DDT (later shown to be based entirely on anecdotes and bad science) not led to restrictions on the use of that chemical and other insecticides. Also, in their zeal to save the planet, opponents of genetically modified foods have left large populations in developing nations severely malnourished and susceptible to disease. And, as much as I love animals, I can’t agree with PETA and other animal rights organizations which systematically hamper medical research that would make viral outbreaks like COVID-19 less likely.
Crying Wolf?
The unscientific climate hysteria that
has given rise to propagandists like Greta Thunberg and manifestos like the
Green New Deal has conditioned a younger generation of gullible Americans to expect
daily reports of impending doom and gloom. To be sure, Americans of all ages have
a right to receive objective, non-politicized information about threats to
their health and safety. However, COVID-19 is a problem that is better tackled
by a population unified by their common interest in protecting the public
health than one deeply divided by alarmism about calamities that may never
materialize consistent with hyper-partisan expectations.
[i] The mortality rate among healthy adults is actually .2%. Most reported deaths have involved the elderly and persons with compromised immunity. See, e.g., CDC Update February 28, 2020.
[ii] https://telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/coronavirus-symptoms-vaccines-treatment-advice/
[iii] John Tierney, “The Real War on Science”, City Journal, Autumn 2016.
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