Coronavirus: either very low risk or deadly, urgent health emergency ... but not both

The following is something I posted on a bulletin-board service in my neighborhood that I belong to. Someone posted a viral email from James Robb, MD, a virus doctor. It provoked a lively debate about the U.S. Government's actions on coronavirus. The link above has the email as well as background info on Robb. I also checked him out on the Internet, and the top anti-bullshit site Snopes.com has even more background info. Dr. Robb may be mistaken, but he is totally legit.

What, me worry? Boomers should realize that
this is not about "the" future but about our future.

On the facemasks debate: what the government is trying to convince us of --facemasks provide NO benefit-- is patently false, as the viral letter from the virus doctor explains. By preventing you from touching your face, and especially your nose and mouth, you avoid contamination from viruses on the surfaces you touched.

However, when you think about it, it is obvious this can only be minimal protection, and there is a very strong argument to be made that, given the shortage, every last mask should be reserved for use by actually infectious patients (so they don't spread the disease) and especially for our health care providers.

And that should be done by the government simply taking control of the entire supply. Eminent domain. And, of course, pay compensation to the owners and suppliers.

But Trump won't do that so we get the cock-and-bull about the face masks being so absolutely useless and worthless that people shouldn't buy them so that they can be available for medical use where they are most needed. One or the other. Confiscate all the face masks and punish the sellers because they're a fraud or requisition them as a desperate necessity.

I wish the government would stop treating us like children.

I watched Mike Pence's press conference Wednesday. The risk is low, just ignore it, go about your normal life, nothing to see here. If THAT were true there wouldn't be a White House task force meeting around-the-clock and holding daily press briefings. The White House hadn't had a press briefing for most of a year before this. Now every single day. Really?

And then I saw that in Seattle, people with "underlying" medical issues like high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, pregnancy or cancer, as well as those over 60 should stay home and especially avoid places where there are people, and the more people the more you should avoid them.

You know how that makes a cancer survivor with high blood pressure and heart disease who is about to turn 69 feel? Grateful not to be pregnant or have diabetes, but I've changed my twitter handle to "Likely coronavirus fatality."