It’s Time to Unplug From the Media’s Pandemic Porn
The good news related to the coronavirus the press just won’t share.
Last week, I spent mostly unplugged from the news…and it was glorious.
However, I am heading into the fray again. And it seems I will be continuing to write about the Wuhan Coronavirus.
The Black Lives Matter protests, and the continuing civil unrest has not had the intended effect on Americans, so the press has returned to pushing its pandemic porn.
For example, I landed in California to find that my state had run out of luck:
Only a few weeks ago, thousands of Southern Californians were flocking to beaches, Disneyland was announcing it would soon reopen and Whoopi Goldberg was lauding Gov. Gavin Newsom on “The View” for the state’s progress in combating the coronavirus. The worst, many in California thought, was behind them.
In fact, an alarming surge in cases up and down the state was only just beginning.
Over the past week California’s case count has exploded, surpassing 200,000 known infections, and forcing Mr. Newsom to roll back the state’s reopening in some counties. On Monday, he said the number of people hospitalized in California had risen 43 percent over the past two weeks.
Los Angeles County, which has been averaging more than 2,000 new cases each day, surpassed 100,000 total cases on Monday, with the virus actively infecting one in every 140 people, according to local health officials. More than 2,800 cases were announced in the county on Monday, the most of any day during the pandemic.
I would simply remind Newsom that 1-2 viral incubation periods have passed since the protests, demonstrations, and riots were allowed to proceed throughout California, including in nearby La Mesa. Bad choices usually lead to bad luck.
I am not the only one who has noticed the correlation.
Young adults in MN testing positive post-chaos. pic.twitter.com/IPIVaKSKwy
— Abe Greenwald (@AbeGreenwald) June 28, 2020
I am sure the owners of the bars, restaurants and other small businesses (which were not destroyed by rioting) who followed the rules and maintained social distancing are now being punished because state and local officials failed to follow guidelines they established. I suspect that, like the beach-goers in Santa Cruz, Californians will ignore the next set of orders to the best of their ability.
Despite the press ginning up fear of the big, bad COVID, I would like to note that the evidence is becoming more apparent that the coronavirus is substantially less lethal than initially reported. It’s at 0.2% and likely lower, given the increasing number of asymptomatic people who have tested positive). Therefore, it is on-par with severe flu, and with the bulk of the deaths occurring in nursing homes, it is clear that the elderly and already ill people are more at risk.
Additionally, the treatment options for COVID-19 are being fined tuned (e.g., anti-inflammatories and innovative oxygen treatment), and the death rate for infection is dropping:
US Covid19 7d average deaths down to just above 500 despite “reopening hysteria”. As noted earlier, past 24hr U.S. total hospitalizations, ICU bed occupancies, & ventilator usage are down as well https://t.co/Df4wIGq57N pic.twitter.com/QC0fuG3FTn
— Andrew Bostom (@andrewbostom) June 29, 2020
We have gone from a high of over 16,000 per week in April to under 1000 the week of June 20th. The trend is likely to continue downward. Furthermore, I would like to point out that some coroners and physicians are marking deaths of anyone with COVID as a coronavirus death, though an underlying condition might have been the actual cause.
In a nutshell, while testing shows many new cases, the consequences of infection have been substantially reduced.
Therefore, if governors and mayors refuse to contain demonstrators and rioters, then they should just reopen in full. In fact, by allowing the young and healthy to get the virus and recover, perhaps herd immunity can be achieved before a vaccine is produced.
Meanwhile, make it a point to tune out all the current media noise related to the coronavirus. While it is wise to take reasonable precautions and protect the vulnerable, exposing yourself to needless fear and stress can also be incredibly harmful.
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Comments
Fyi
About All These “New” Positive COVID Cases –
State Health Departments Manipulating Data,
Changing Definitions..
The Last Refuge
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian56789
Ian56
@
How Mainstream Media Promotes False Claims and Exaggerates The Dangers of Covid-19.
If your only information is the MSM you won’t have a clue about #Covid19 & you will be fed an endless diet of lies.
Two Minutes to Understand Spin Vs Actual Data
Video by
@FatEmperor
https://twitter.com/i/status/1278621836482416640
Video
My state changed how cases were counted two or three times already.
It’s all about the election – anyone with their head not up their butts (or not in on the scam) knows this by now.
We’re in a civil war, shooting and all.
PDJT has to show strength. Jared Kushner has to be pushed out of the war room: it’s not his thing.
The rats of the GOPe are plotting to destroy the GOP Senate majority:
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/07/05/never-trump-republicans-plot-give-democrats-senate-majority/
The swamp is a unified fascist/left/islamic axis.
The saying that they’re ‘after’ Trump because they are really after ‘us’.
This is war.
I noticed that the virus has a weekly cycle which tend to point to human bias. Maybe the virus takes the weekend off.
Thank you Leslie!
Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics
I think there is also an issue with people having multiple tests — required by some employers to go back to work. There was an article at another blog showing the same thing — in Collin Co (Texas; 2 counties over from mine), there is documentation about the new definition of a “diagnosed” COVID 19 case — which is going to be possible not even probable. I found the same presentation going to the Collin County website (so did my best to verify)
— It is on the Commissioner’s Court 5/18/2020 meeting under COVID 19 update and then presentation. A link to the presentation…..: https://eagenda.collincountytx.gov/docs/2020/CC/20200518_2481/48410_Explanation.pdf
That sort of accounting will *really* increase the numbers of both cases and deaths!.
It’s not just Collin Cty. It’s statewide.
“”herd immunity can be achieved before a vaccine is produced.””
And thereby hangs the tale. Can’t have the disease go away before the big pharma gets payback for all of those “campaign contributions”.
Fauci promised an AIDS vaccine almost 40 years ago…..
Don’t hold your breath…….
HIV has both an amazing replication rate and an amazing mutation rate.
There was even a vaccine prepared that had 200 different variations, in hopes of containing the virus. It went all the way to large clinical trials where it crapped out, because the virus mutates that fast. The researchers were shocked.
This virus is not HIV. It does not have that fierce replication rate, and it mutates somewhat less than the flu. It might have a stable vaccine.
I have stated from the beginning of the COVID scare campaign that the media flat out lied about all aspects of the COVID virus, except the identity of the most at risk population, which the politicians simply ignored.
The first horrendous lie is the number if COVID cases. What most people are being tested for is EXPOSURE to the virus, not for an active infection. And, just as with the seasonal flu or any other infectious disease, many times more people are exposed than actually become infected. We can see this is the truth because of two things. The first is the continuous claim, by the medial “experts”, that there is a literally astronomical number of asymptomatic infections. While possible, no evidence is ever put forth to support this. It is just an unsupported opinion. The second thing is the way these new COVID case numbers are being classified by the people aat Fox News. Less and less frequently do we hear the network’s hosts and pundits refer to positive tests as cases and more and more they are using the term exposures.
Then we have the supposed hospitalizations for COVID. The numbers of people currently in hospitals is up, across the country. However, when we dig deeper into the reasons for these hospitalizations, we see that the bulk of them are due to other medical conditions and elective procedures. No hospitals are in any danger of being overwhelmed. Does anyone believe for a moment that a COVID epidemic is raging through the states which first opened up and it is not doing the same thing in NY, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle or similar places?
COVID is a political disease. It is a nasty upper respiratory virus which can be very severe in those with extreme existing medical conditions. It also seems to be especially contagious under certain specific conditions; such as at picnics in the park, in church, in bars and restaurants, baseball games, at the beach and at Trump rallies and demonstrations against COVID restrictions. Yet, it is seemingly incapable of being spread at grocery stores or at mass political demonstrations for liberal causes including riots.
It is all a scam. All sane, intelligent media people know that. But, all major media outlets are complacent in perpetuating the myth that COVID is an apocalyptic disease which requires us to destroy Western civilization in order to save it. The numbers are faked. The reporting is a lie. And, it is all being used to achieve political ends.
Time to get off the Coronavirus, and back to Corona.
yes- if only the annual children’s bike parade which was cancelled in our neighborhood this year due to COVID had the same virtue as rioters.
Been following and logging Pennsylvania, NY and NJ since I caught Pennsylvania on Apr 24 adding lives to the deasth count. Every week though daily counts, the numbers are lowest on Mon, highest Wed and Thur very similar to this chart. But taken as weekly totals every week since those first couple weeks have gone down. In the beginning weeks there were spikes in the 500s on that middle week many times the totals of every other day combined of that week.
It is a truly strange disease that prefers certain days of the week to kill you.
It’s just the reporting coming in. The weekends upset the reporting.
Nothing more than that.
Having once worked for a newspaper (in IT), I don’t blame the news media for the skewed information. Journalists are the most scientifically and mathematically illiterate high school graduates I have ever known.
They simply don’t understand that an increase in positive tests means nothing without additional context, like hospitalization rates or type and severity of symptoms. If you gave them that information, they wouldn’t know what to do with it.
I DO blame the people who continue employing these idiots in positions of responsibility. They have a lot to answer for.
I used to be a reporter. Yes, they are morons on the whole. But not too stupid to not know how to manipulate. They can ask questions if they wanted to. Either they don’t want to, or if they do, they withhold what they find out.
The news reported now is reported that way for a reason.
Hospitalization rates don’t mean much either. Policy can change on whether to admit, and while that changes the recorded rate it says nothing about the underlying disease.
When you have empty hospitals going broke, suddenly every hangnail looks major…
Young healthy people aren’t dying of the dreaded covid.
Some people, even when you show them real numbers- don’t want to believe that- because all they see is “Coronavirus cases going up!”. To which I think, “So what?” They were supposed to go up once the “Curve was flattened” so herd immunity could be reached. And there’s one big statistic that shows young healthy people don’t die of covid. Where do we find a control group of young healthy people? Active duty military. About 1.3 million people, almost 50% under 25, less than 10% over 40. With reserve and national guard bringing military members to a little over 2 million. There’s a chart at https://www.airforcemag.com/snapshot-dod-and-covid-19/ that’s updated a few times a week. As of 1 July- 3, count them, 3 military deaths among those 2 million. From what I can see elsewhere- only 1 was active duty. The one active duty death was 41 year old AOC Thacker from the USS Theodore Roosevelt. That’s a death rate of 0.00015%. For comparison numbers, among active duty, as of 30 March there were 34 USAF suicides, 18 Navy. Unasked and unanswered question from health authorities and military leadership- how many due to the draconian isolation measure the military has put in place on it’s members? The Navy just INCREASED it’s restrictions. When by the numbers- they should be opening up, going back to completely normal, and let personnel catch it- if they’re going to. Actually, that’s one lesson that’s really been hammered home since the start of covidiocy. A significant portion of people don’t get it- even with continued or significant exposure. There are theories why… but nobody knows for sure.
The CDC chart (I don’t think I can put two links in one comment) shows 753 total deaths- total – from covid in the 25-34 age range. 64 were hypertensive. 79 had sepsis- which by itself will kill you. 154 obesity, 105 diabetes, although there’s overlap in that. 53 Intentional and unintentional injury, poisoning and other adverse events. Of the 110,000 covid deaths, less than 1% were ages 0-35. so 753 deaths in that age range. That’s not even that many people to begin with. And- it’s it’s not healthy young people. But yet, people persist in believing healthy young people are dying by droves.
The news media, in fact, doesn’t hide the fact that’s it’s the unhealthy who are dying. From Florida Toady on 18 May an article “Coronavirus: How the youngest 25 in Florida died of COVID-19”. From the article “Of the 25 deaths, 17 were men and eight were women. Most suffered from asthma, chronic bronchitis, morbid obesity and hypertension — or some combination of all the above.” 25 people under 40, of 1489 deaths at that time.
From the CDC numbers,of the about 110,000 covid deaths, less than 1% were ages 0-35. 32% were 85+. People over 85 are <2% of the population. And it's well reported that almost all deaths (which likely means ALL deaths) have underlying co-morbidities. And for this we're increasing restrictions? Doesn't make any sense at all whatsoever at this point. Didn't make any sense to begin with for anyone who understood numbers and saw them from the laboratory called the Diamond Princess, but the covidiocy started anyway.
It's almost as if covid was scientifically designed to get rid of what socialists call "useless eaters“. It kills the weak, sick, and elderly. Unlike the Spanish Flu pandemic which did kill off otherwise healthy young people. Not that I imagine the Communists running China would work on such things….
There shouldn’t be any reopening plans. The United States should be freed or all restrictions, period. The crisis, which never really existed- is over. Tell people who are otherwise sick- isolate yourself, take precautions. Just like you do during flu season. Tell people- don’t visit nursing homes and elderly until you’ve had it and recovered. And institute a few additional health recommendations’ The single big one- recommend people have their Vitamin D levels monitored.
CDC numbers:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm#Comorbidities
Florida Today article:
https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2020/05/18/coronavirus-how-youngest-25-florida-died-covid-19/5196995002/
talked to the daughter today…she is a navy corpsman who is presently screening incoming OCS candidates for covid. she is hoping to catch the virus for 2 reasons 1) to find out what all the fear is all about 2) to get it over with so she can stop worrying and get on with her life.
she says there’s many “covid parties” happening amongst the ranks for just the same reasons.
My son-in-law is a lieutenant in the Navy and tested positive just this week, along with three other men in his department. After putting in place all kinds of rules and restrictions for Navy personnel, the Navy hired a civilian who evidently missed/ignored the memos. After becoming sick and testing positive, he admitted he had gone to a gay bar where it was standing room only. My SIL and daughter have both been having mild flu symptoms (aches, feeling rundown, low grade fever) for the past ten days but now seem to be feeling fine, both are in their early thirties. My daughter has not been tested but is sure she has it. They have a toddler who as yet has no symptoms whatsoever.
here’s the thing. Even if she gets it and recovers- she won’t be allowed to get on with her life. The universal mask orders by Dictator Cuomo and others of his ilk? They apply to everyone, doesn’t matter if you’ve had it. Social distancing? Applies to everyone, no exceptions.
It’s about control. Not about prevention.
Huge data falsification re Covid. There is no longer even a need to confirm a death by Covid before it is classified as a Covid death. One positive can lead to dozens of “probables” that are likewise classified as Covid for conversational purposes.
New “Guidelines” aka propaganda:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8jy9hyl6iqjas6e/NEW%20Covid-19%20Case%20Definions.pdf?dl=0
Discussion:
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/07/02/explosive-about-all-these-new-positive-covid-cases-state-health-departments-manipulating-data-changing-definitions/
interesting series of tweets w/ comments & charts here, re ChiCom Crud:
https://twitter.com/EthicalSkeptic
“Despite the press ginning up fear of the big, bad COVID, I would like to note that the evidence is becoming more apparent that the coronavirus is substantially less lethal than initially reported.”
Dr. Kelly Victory, former Chief Medical Officer of Harrah’s who reports almost daily on KABC at 1pm for an entire hour, reports that they are now estimating that the death number is over-stated by at least 20%. Anyone who died on a ventilator will earn the hospital $39,000 from the federal government if coronavirus is listed as a co-morbidity is listed as a contributing cause of death. There are also host of additional payments hospitals can collect by adding coronavirus into the mix. So the statistics are highly dubious and incentivized to be overstated.
Also, it is being reported that in TX and CA, lot of the tests were due to border crossers who are more likely to end up in hospitals thus the inflated hospitalization in Houston TX and Imperial County CA with spillover into other counties.
Also, young people who are overwhelmingly asymptomatic often over-react to finding out they are infected and end of going to the hospital for a second opinion. It seems to me that such asymptomatic people probably aren’t normally identified in a normal year.
However you cut this, we are swimming in a sea of BS with politicians making catastrophic medical and economic decisions. It’s high time for a major pushback.
Nice report. However, I encourage everyone to refer to this bug by its proper name, that is: The ChiCom Chinese Wuhan Sino-virus from China.
You’re being deceived. Governments have no data to support their increased draconian laws to lock us down or to force us to wear masks.
Here’s an interesting graphic from the usually liberal Seattle Times, with the data for Washington state:
https://static.seattletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Wa-COVID-19-7.2-daily-W.jpg
The rise in confirmed cases appears to be closely correlated with the number of tests. No information on how many of those cases are actual infections or how many are symptomatic.
The number of deaths per day, on the other hand, is declining. Notice that 90% of the reported deaths are in the population aged 60+, while 63% of the confirmed cases are in the population younger than 60.
Yet our governor recently made wearing masks in public mandatory — because like the local press, he’s focusing only on the number of confirmed cases and not asking what that number really means.
Happy 4th of July weekend. We all need some levity, this gem came to me via Parler.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H-6HTKNgV0&t=189s
In Montgomery County, Virginia,where the population is slightly less than 100.000, the number of reported cases is increasing rapidly. However, the number of hospitalizations and deaths haven’t changed in three weeks. The total number of hospitalizations is nine, and the number of deaths is two.
The reason for the convenient uptick in the cases of Covid is the upcoming holiday this weekend. When the weekend is over Monday, watch the count in cases go down. They will keep going down un the next major holiday, which will be Labor Day. Then there will another spike in cases and the shutdowns will occur again.
It’s Twilight Zone, Jake.