@Li’l ol’ me – “Percentage-wise, the number of people that will need an ICU for treatment of COVID is quite low.” Can’t make that assertion accurately without data! And that’s obviously why you didn’t.
- IN FACT, the percentage of people diagnosed with COVID-19 who must be hospitalized is between 10-20%. Given that the US only has a million ICU beds TOTAL, that’s too many.
- Several states have filled their ICUs or reached high 90s with COVID-19 cases alone (e.g., from a one-second Google search: MANY Texas hospitals at 97-100% capacity, Arizona 91%, Georgia…) – and let’s not forget you need ICUs for lots of other issues!
- The assertion that somehow once you are serious enough to be hospitalized, you are “much more likely to be discharged” is based on no data I have ever seen. In fact, since people were discouraged from going to the hospital unless they had serious symptoms, the opposite is true. And being intubated for lengthy periods has horrific side effects, both short-term and long-term, including PTSD, because you have to remain intubated for much longer periods than typically required for other issues.
- While many people get asymptomatic or low-symptom cases, that does NOT make it less dangerous. It makes it MORE dangerous if people don’t wear masks, because they can still spread COVID-19. Some estimates run as high as 40% of cases being asymptomatic.
- But even that underestimates the danger of COVID-19, because recent data suggests that even mild cases can have lingering effects – obviously lung damage, but many other symptoms that take a while to manifest, ranging from neurological damage to chronic fatigue syndrome. We don’t know enough yet to dismiss mild cases as over and done. (https://www.healthcentral.com/article/long-term-effects-coronavirus)
- And this is a rapidly-mutating virus, and some studies suggest we have a worse version in the US that attacks children more often. This is what happens when you let it multiply…
@Li’l ol’ me – “Percentage-wise, the number of people that will need an ICU for treatment of COVID is quite low.” Can’t make that assertion accurately without data! And that’s obviously why you didn’t.
- IN FACT, the percentage of people diagnosed with COVID-19 who must be hospitalized is between 10-20%. Given that the US only has a million ICU beds TOTAL, that’s too many.
- Several states have filled their ICUs or reached high 90s with COVID-19 cases alone (e.g., from a one-second Google search: MANY Texas hospitals at 97-100% capacity, Arizona 91%, Georgia…) – and let’s not forget you need ICUs for lots of other issues!
- The assertion that somehow once you are serious enough to be hospitalized, you are “much more likely to be discharged” is based on no data I have ever seen. In fact, since people were discouraged from going to the hospital unless they had serious symptoms, the opposite is true. And being intubated for lengthy periods has horrific side effects, both short-term and long-term, including PTSD, because you have to remain intubated for much longer periods than typically required for other issues.
- While many people get asymptomatic or low-symptom cases, that does NOT make it less dangerous. It makes it MORE dangerous if people don’t wear masks, because they can still spread COVID-19. Some estimates run as high as 40% of cases being asymptomatic.
- But even that underestimates the danger of COVID-19, because recent data suggests that even mild cases can have lingering effects – obviously lung damage, but many other symptoms that take a while to manifest, ranging from neurological damage to chronic fatigue syndrome. We don’t know enough yet to dismiss mild cases as over and done. (https://www.healthcentral.com/article/long-term-effects-coronavirus)
- And this is a rapidly-mutating virus, and some studies suggest we have a worse version in the US that attacks children more often. This is what happens when you let it multiply…