If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

I’m not sure who originally wrote this, but it describes the current situation pretty well!

Cut and pasted. A must read.

"Chicken pox is a virus. Lots of people have had it, and probably don't think about it much once the initial illness has passed. But it stays in your body and lives there forever, and maybe when you're older, you have debilitatingly painful outbreaks of shingles. You don't just get over this virus in a few weeks, never to have another health effect. We know this because it's been around for years, and has been studied medically for years.

Herpes is also a virus. And once someone has it, it stays in your body and lives there forever, and anytime they get a little run down or stressed-out they're going to have an outbreak. Maybe every time you have a big event coming up (school pictures, job interview, big date) you're going to get a cold sore. For the rest of your life. You don't just get over it in a few weeks. We know this because it's been around for years, and been studied medically for years.

HIV is a virus. It attacks the immune system, and makes the carrier far more vulnerable to other illnesses. It has a list of symptoms and negative health impacts that goes on and on. It was decades before viable treatments were developed that allowed people to live with a reasonable quality of life. Once you have it, it lives in your body forever and there is no cure. Over time, that takes a toll on the body, putting people living with HIV at greater risk for health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, diabetes, bone disease, liver disease, cognitive disorders, and some types of cancer. We know this because it has been around for years, and had been studied medically for years.

Now with COVID-19, we have a novel virus that spreads rapidly and easily. The full spectrum of symptoms and health effects is only just beginning to be cataloged, much less understood.
So far the symptoms may include:
Fever
Fatigue
Coughing
Pneumonia
Chills/Trembling
Acute respiratory distress
Lung damage (potentially permanent)
Loss of taste (a neurological symptom)
Sore throat
Headaches
Difficulty breathing
Mental confusion
Diarrhea
Nausea or vomiting
Loss of appetite
Strokes have also been reported in some people who have COVID-19 (even in the relatively young)
Swollen eyes
Blood clots
Seizures
Liver damage
Kidney damage
Rash
COVID toes (weird, right?)

People testing positive for COVID-19 have been documented to be sick even after 60 days. Many people are sick for weeks, get better, and then experience a rapid and sudden flare up and get sick all over again. A man in Seattle was hospitalized for 62 days, and while well enough to be released, still has a long road of recovery ahead of him. Not to mention a $1.1 million medical bill.

Then there is MIS-C. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children is a condition where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. Children with MIS-C may have a fever and various symptoms, including abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, bloodshot eyes, or feeling extra tired. While rare, it has caused deaths.

This disease has not been around for years. It has basically been 6 months. No one knows yet the long-term health effects, or how it may present itself years down the road for people who have been exposed. We literally *do not know* what we do not know.

For those in our society who suggest that people being cautious are cowards, for people who refuse to take even the simplest of precautions to protect themselves and those around them, I want to ask, without hyperbole and in all sincerity:
HOW DARE YOU?

How dare you risk the lives of others so cavalierly. How dare you decide for others that they should welcome exposure as "getting it over with", when literally no one knows who will be the lucky "mild symptoms" case, and who may fall ill and die. Because while we know that some people are more susceptible to suffering a more serious case, we also know that 20 and 30 year olds have died, marathon runners and fitness nuts have died, children and infants have died.

How dare you behave as though you know more than medical experts, when those same experts acknowledge that there is so much we don't yet know, but with what we DO know, are smart enough to be scared of how easily this is spread, and recommend baseline precautions such as:
Frequent hand-washing
Physical distancing
Reduced social/public contact or interaction
Mask wearing
Covering your cough or sneeze
Avoiding touching your face
Sanitizing frequently touched surfaces

The more things we can all do to mitigate our risk of exposure, the better off we all are, in my opinion. Not only does it flatten the curve and allow health care providers to maintain levels of service that aren't immediately and catastrophically overwhelmed; it also reduces unnecessary suffering and deaths, and buys time for the scientific community to study the virus in order to come to a more full understanding of the breadth of its impacts in both the short and long term.

I reject the notion that it's "just a virus" and we'll all get it eventually. What a careless, lazy, heartless stance."

Message edited 7/3/2020 1:07:02 PM.

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Thank you so much! I'm stealing it!

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

I was at the beach and this man, not wearing a mask, started randomly verbally attacking a black man who was wearing a mask, sitting peacefully and happy with his mask on. The man without the mask started saying "you have to take it off sometime!" and the man in the mask was like "no thanks, I'm good" and the man in the mask was like "you need to breathe, breathe man. the air. everyone has to breathe" and the masked man said "I'm breathing just fine in this mask. You can breathe in a mask, I'm here doing it keeping you safe". and the other man started going ballistic after that and was almost fighting him to take his mask off. I didn't understand why the mask-less man even needed to open his mouth in the first place. It was very aggravating.

Also I was at a restaurant eating outside, near other stores, so our seat was by the bushes which separates the restaurant from the people walk alongside there. We were still wearing our masks at the table, we only took them off to eat. This man just stopped by the table we were eating at and just starts hacking spit in the bushes. I couldn't believe it. It was disgusting. Flinging spit into our area so gross. I felt like it was on purpose as when he was done and I looked at him horrified he smiled and winked and kept walking.

I HATE PEOPLE.

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

I have absolutely no problem with ppl that want to take extra precautions. Ppl should be able to do what they think it’s best for them and their family. What I kinda have a problem with is the fact that the person writing this is mentioning viruses that don’t leave the body while at the same time talking about covid, that’s kinda of inferring that covid can be just like those viruses. I mean if we truly don’t know how covid is then why only mention those viruses and not include viruses that the body is able to overcome completely (those that don’t stay dormant within our cells)? Then the person says being “smart enough to be scared of how easily this is spread”. Well there’s nothing smart about being scared. Being scared does not contribute anything good, it actually can make things worse. It can make us do things out of fear without thinking things logically. Also last time I checked there’s no studies that actually proves mis-c is a result of covid so why the need of mentioning? To me, it just add to unnecessary fear.

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

If it hasn't been done already, the law will soon require people to wear masks at the beach and in all public places until this dumpster fire started by selfishness and ignorance gets under control.

Masks protect others.

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

I wear my mask even though I hate it. I already had the virus and I can't help but wonder the long term effects. I read that it might lead to neurological damage and that can cause numbness. I've had that pins and needles feeling in my hands a lot recently and I wonder if that is related.

Americans aren't the only ones complaining about masks though. I follow travel & lifestyle bloggers all over the world and they all sound the same recently. Long rants about people not wearing masks. Anyone saying otherwise just sounds sheltered to me.

Read the international news. I don't think anyone likes them. Last I read Australia's outbreaks are on the rise again and the government still isn't recommending or requiring masks in most parts yet. I think Victoria is getting close to requiring them. Push back from citizens there rivals the US. I've also read that the people in England are some of the most reluctant to follow mask orders in comparison to the US. It's not just the people in the United States that refuse to wear masks.

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Re: If you need a response when bullied about “overreacting” re: covid

Some of the behavior and attitudes described sounds sociopathic.