LETTER: Economic destruction versus the coronavirus
I just read the Centers for Disease Control report on the results of the 2009-10 H1N1 flu. The World Health Organization estimated the worldwide deaths associated with H1N1 to be a little more than 18,000. After being granted access to various sites and obtaining relevant information, the CDC estimates the total deaths were actually above 203,000.
Further, it suggested that the death rate could be much greater, even double, due to stress factors.
At present, we are shuttering nonessential labeled services, but that’s surely not how the individuals affected would define it. By all means, we should implement common-sense measures to combat the COVID-19 virus, with the emphasis being on hygiene. The elderly should isolate whenever possible.
We have navigated these pandemics in the past. But I believe that if we allow the economic engine responsible for production in this nation to continue to be shut down, the damage we suffer from the stress inflicted by these measures will exceed any imagined by this virus.
