Tuesday, March 24, 2020

morals and compassion in a time of COVID

i hear a lot of things these days that bother me.

"it's only the old and the vulnerable who are going to die"

what? it's almost as if you think we can't hear you. can you say that to your grandma and not feel like an asshat?

but also it's factually wrong. young and healthy people are also dying. every person has a life with as much dignity and value as yours. let me amend that: if you are actively putting other people at risk because you think their lives have less value, then i'm afraid it is you who are of lesser value. go ahead. try to change my mind.

"don't wear surgical masks. they won't protect you against the virus."

ok, i get the reason behind this one: we don't want joe schmoe on the street to buy up all the surgical masks and keep them out of the hands of healthcare workers, who get infected and die at a higher rate than the rest of us. that's all fine and dandy UNTIL HEALTHCARE WORKERS WHO FACE SHORTAGES ARE BEING TOLD TO WEAR A COUPLE OF BANDANAS AND THEY OUGHT TO BE JUST FINE.

also, we're getting some information that suggests that the virus may actually survive aerosolized for a couple of hours. we have partial information on how long it lives on surfaces. the bottom line is we haven't lived with it long enough to know what it really does. we are learning all the time, but while we are learning, the clock is ticking.

the choices we make now will determine the death count.

stay the hell home. wash your hands. don't hoard supplies. if you're handy, get hooked up with people who can get you set up to DIY some masks or gowns.

https://findthemasks.com/

the thing that made me angriest yesterday was the thing the president said a few days ago about how awesome antimalarials are going to be as a cure for COVID.

yes, there is some anecdotal evidence that they may help in treatment of it, but the moment he announced it to his followers as a cure, we all knew there were going to be instant shortages. people with lupus need that stuff. and here's a thing the president didn't mention: those drugs aren't super-safe. you need a full set of lab panels before you can start taking it, because it can kill you. also it can make you go blind.

but the president's followers don't question anything he says and in fact a whole bunch of asshats have gone out and stockpiled a medication i need because it MAY help them against a virus they don't yet have so now there's a very real shortage and yes, in yesterday's news there was already a case where some idiots decided to start self-medicating.

Man dies after self-medicating with chloroquine

a friend of mine lives in a country where they've decided that the only people who need to stay home are the elderly and people with symptoms. my friend's husband works at a place where his boss's daughter has COVID, but the boss did not have symptoms, and everybody was still required to go into work. my friend's husband is coughing now, and my friend is sick too. the husband's company still wants him to come in to work.


the choices we make now will determine the death count.

1 comment:

Zhoen said...

Fighting ignorance, especially willful ignorance, is impossible. All we can do is manage it.

If you saw that hateful spam comment, we've all been getting it. It's a bot, I report it and ignore it.

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