Don’t let the pandemic infect your mind
Guy P. Harrison writes: The COVID-19 pandemic threatens more than the physical bodies of Cayman’s population. It also presents a clear and present danger to everyone’s ability to analyse claims and make rational decisions. A human mind is a half-crazed cyclone of irrationality in the best of times and now Caymanians and residents are experiencing heightened levels of confusion and anxiety. These are optimal conditions for bad thinking and dangerous beliefs to flourish. In the coming months an avalanche of pandemic-related fantasies, lies and medical fraud will swarm the globe. There will be no limit to the absurdity and cruelty of bad information coming.
Prepare to think well or prepare to be a victim because poor thinking skills can cost you time, money, dignity, good health, maybe even your life.
Fear makes the subconscious mind lean into lies that come disguised as hope. Desperation sweetens the allure of medical quackery. Neither politicians, editors, journalists nor well-meaning friends and family members can shield you from all of it. Some of the nonsense and deceit will get through.
Like every other society, the Cayman Islands had a significant problem with medical quackery pre-pandemic and it’s likely to get worse in the coming months. Dodging it will rest on performance rather than credentials. Being well educated won’t be enough.This is about cognitive clarity, agility and dynamism. What is needed is dedication to a form of intellectual due diligence. We have to do the work necessary to determine what is worth knowing and accepting as most likely to be true.
When confronted with claims associated with COVID-19 we need to first assess the credibility and expertise of sources. We must demand evidence and always value the scientific process. Perhaps most important, we have to be mature enough to withhold our belief or acceptance when a clear verdict just isn’t available. “Might be true” should not equate to “is true” in your mind.
Think before you accept claims about a medical product or treatment. Has it been proven safe and effective by running the gauntlet of scientific study? Given the power of subconscious biases, claims we like or want to be valid require extra doubt and scrutiny. A few tips:
- A description of “natural” does not mean a treatment or preventative measure is safe and effective.
- Stories (anecdotal evidence) are not good enough to gamble your health on. We are a story-telling species and a good one can entrance us well enough to try or buy almost anything. Remember this vulnerability when you hear tales of a miracle cure that allegedly helped many strangers or one close friend.
- Conspiracy theories (5G towers, “Bill Gates did it”, “it’s all a hoax”) are appealing because “special knowledge” can elevate feelings of power and control in those who may be yearning for it. A simple demand for evidence usually dismantles them. “Could be true” is not the same as truth.
- A white lab coat or even a medical degree does not necessarily make someone an expert on viruses and pandemics. Virology and epidemiology are very specific fields. Dr Phil, Dr Oz, and some random chiropractor on YouTube are not the best available sources on the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Avoid the common mistake of believing you are immune to irrational beliefs. Don’t imagine that you could never take bad advice from an unqualified or dishonest person. You too are fully capable of buying a bogus health product if it comes to you in the camouflage of pretty packaging and colorful lies.
We all like to believe that we are sensible people who make decisions based on evidence and reason. But it’s not true, as countless experiments and studies have shown. To err really is human. We see the mental missteps of others from a mile away, but constantly overlook our own. Psychologists call this the bias blind-spot and we demonstrate it every time we think we are too smart to be fooled.
Recognise that humility is the first step toward good thinking for every Caymanian and resident. Remember to analyse claims carefully and withhold acceptance until enough evidence justifies it. Be skeptical and be vigilant. This is the path you want to take because the quality of your thoughts and decisions will play an important role in keeping you healthy, not only throughout this pandemic, but for the rest of your life as well.
Stay safe, Cayman.
Guy P. Harrison is a Caymanian and former Cayman Islands journalist. He is the author of eight books, including Think: Why You Should Question Everything and At Least Know This: Essential Science to Enhance Your Life. Find him on Twitter at @HarrisonAuthor
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The article and the comments are unbelievably interesting. Thank you Guy for confirming how I have lived my entire life … and perhaps why I am healthy!!!
Thanks too to all those who commented — although many of your thought process’s and beliefs do not mirror my own but at least you are thinking — but think and above all Question and never ‘believe’ until the evidence is in – Sara-Cov-2 and Covid-19 are still in hot debate — I hope I live long enough to hear the ‘truthful’ answer – but am highly unlikely to live for another 200yrs Lol
These are helpful words, but I find that I do not need them. I am loving this period of time. Yes I have lost my job and perhaps a lot of savings too. But every day I wake up and I don’t have to put on my work clothes, I don’t have to say goodbye to my family for the whole day. It took a couple of weeks but I am not stressed out anymore. I spend the day with my children and find that I have patience I did not have before. I listen to them when they talk and a lot of what they say surprises me and makes me laugh. In the afternoons we ride our bikes and see hundreds doing the same or walking their dogs, or jogging and being healthy. In the evenings we go and sit on our front porch and the neighbours all do the same and we all have a drink and a chat and watch the joggers and the walkers go by. Normally all would be drowned out by the road of the traffic. Without even meaning to I have lost weight just from eating home cooked meals.
It is sad that so many are sick from this disease and that we are separated by so many miles from loved ones and family, but personally I have found this a very happy and peaceful time. I feel like this has added years to my life.
Yours is the real “woke.” This situation an opportunity for people to discover what is really important in their lives. I have had a similar experience. Congratulations!
Guy..no offense, but you wrote books on counter theistic views of great spaghetti monsters and genuinely believe in a superior race of “Aliens”. Your mind is prone to some pretty outlandish theories as is. So what is normal for you, which admittedly has provided you with a fairly substantial income I would imagine since leaving the days as sports column journalist behind, but I’m not so sure you are qualified to provide unbiased psychiatric advice. Dunno..perhaps you did obtain said qualifications since relocating. But best to your and thanks for the genuine concern. Perhaps you can assist the United States with their Rebellion before they create a catastrophe and overburden their healthcare system. Best of luck.
Coronavirus V: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRFbwjwQ4VE
Pause for a moment and contemplate the bizarre mental process of a person who is highly skeptical of the world’s leading virologists, but willing to believe the crackpot claims of every weirdo with a YouTube video.
How can our people be so gullible? What happened to Caymanian common sense? Maybe we need a little less preaching and a lot more teaching at the press briefings.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/26/health/flu-deaths-2017–2018-cdc-bn/index.html
You’d be surprised that many of these conspiracy theorists aren’t “our people” in the traditional sense, but highly educated expats (and some now Caymanian) who have gone off the rails after being subjected to a feedback loop from which their egos won’t allow escape. Yes, it’s a type of brainwashing that was given rise by the so-called “populist” movement. Ultimately, it’s generated by fear and selfishness.
The last thing we need is another person who is not
a medical professional telling us how we should think and act during this pandemic.
It’s simple. Listen to the the professionals in the medical field. Yes, their views may change from one day to another depending on what is learned during this epidemic. That’s why science is ever evolving unlike some extremely narrow minded religious bigots in goby who believe in the power of prayer. Oh my.
Now I’m not referring to Guy Harrison here, What I would like to hear going forward on how we are going to get through this pandemic is absolutely nothing from anyone who believes in ‘holy god up in the sky’ or any of that nonsense. If the all powerful and ever loving god was what you religious folk believe he/she is, why hasn’t he/she sorted it out the first time a bat unwittingly passed it on through a snake or fish or chicken eventually to us. Or if it was manufactured in a lab couldn’t he/she had a natural disaster to wipe that lab and all in it off the face of the Earth.
I will tell you why, he/she made 4.5 billion year old fossils on the 8th day. That be the reason.
More of the same. “ If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.“
Just stop it. Submit to the media narrative spread by both the left and right. Stop rocking the boat. The hippies lost, the freedom fighters lost. Trust the media that never lies, doctors who told us to smoke, advertisers that sold us garage they said we need. Don’t ask questions. This world has been built to control your mind, what you say and what you do. Accept it.
Bullshit
I wish people would at least read and understand this little part of the article
A description of “natural” does not mean a treatment or preventative measure is safe and effective.
Stories (anecdotal evidence) are not good enough to gamble your health on. We are a story-telling species and a good one can entrance us well enough to try or buy almost anything. Remember this vulnerability when you hear tales of a miracle cure that allegedly helped many strangers or one close friend.
Conspiracy theories (5G towers, “Bill Gates did it”, “it’s all a hoax”) are appealing because “special knowledge” can elevate feelings of power and control in those who may be yearning for it. A simple demand for evidence usually dismantles them. “Could be true” is not the same as truth.
A white lab coat or even a medical degree does not necessarily make someone an expert on viruses and pandemics. Virology and epidemiology are very specific fields. Dr Phil, Dr Oz, and some random chiropractor on YouTube are not the best available sources on the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Don’t you think a patient knows better where it hurts than his doctor?
You not saying he should trust his doctor because he knows better and dismisses his complains, aren’t you? Figuratively speaking of course ( in case you take the example literally).
A big problem is that too many people believe that chiropractors, homeopaths, naturpaths, and television doctors are real medical experts worth listening to.
I do know that chiropractors have given me so much pain relief in my life that I don’t doubt their effectiveness. I have known at least two MDs who go to them as well. HOWEVER… I wouldn’t let one advise me on coronavirus, any more than I’d let a podiatrist operate on my spine.
Think how messed up some people minds are. Somebody says don’t fall for lies, don’t be crazy. And reading that makes them angry. “It’s my right to be dumb!” “You can’t tell me not to believe crazy people!”
When you say lies, do you mean all the the advice the experts gave us that turned out to be completely false? Or that it’s a good idea to guzzle Dettol to combat covid-19?
When I read Mr. Guy’s opinion piece, it’s easy to infer an extremely condenscending tone.
“Neither politicians, editors, journalists nor well-meaning friends and family members can shield you from all of it.” Thank you and noted Mr. Guy.
In short, the Dettol guzzlers are the same folks as the rightfully concerned folks that have been misled and now feel a heightened sense of trepidation when processing advice from the experts and in particular the experts globally that are in charge of giving us good advice. Don’t question, just obey regardless of the devastation brought by obedience.
I don’t disagree with everything in Mr. Guy’s piece, that doesn’t mean we should be programmed drones either.
Reading comprehension much? I’m pretty sure this commentary is not recommending that we all become “programmed drones”. In fact, it’s obviously suggesting that everyone needs to think for themselves.
I’m more concerned about trying to to let it infect my liver!!
Alden please read this commentary at next press briefing cuz we got a serious problem
So strange how encouraging people to think and not let themselves get tricked by con artists and fools makes them angry. It’s like they desperately want to be taken advantage of.
As a Caymanian it makes me feel good seeing that so many “sophisticated” rich and highly educated expats are just as gullible and dumb as some of us can be. Look on Facebook you see them going on with the craziest stuff you ever imagine. If we had any sense our government should start selling covid cure pills to expats. Just put up a commercial for it on YouTube and half them would buy it.
Yep – the 43% that think Donald Trump is a good President.
He is
.
Worst ever.
No, that would be Jimmy Carter.
No, Trump is much worse than Carter. Carter wasn’t up to the task, but was a very good and honest person. There’s a reason he was used for diplomatic purposed after his presidency. American is a country that was based on a perceived set of values. Foreign policy aside, Americans generally believe in those values. Trump has thrown them all out the window. Instead of the “kinder, gentler nation” Reagan wanted, we’ve gotten a “meaner, more bigoted, more selfish” nation. It’s not all about money (regardless of what Bill Clinton said) – it’s also about integrity, fairness and values. Instead of making American great again, Trump has decidedly taken the country to a place where it might take decades to regain its stature in the world.
A narcissistic sociopath. Poster child.
Bless you Dr. Lee. You have your work cut out for you trying to explain this pandemic to people who would rather trust Dr Oz and Donald Trump.
That is just your opinion. Other people have polar opposite opinions.
Dr. Fauci said in February that the US did not need to lockdown, basically business as usual. That’s who Trump listens to. Not blaming Fauci, nobody knew(knows) exactly what to do.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/04/12/dr_anthony_fauci_at_this_time_there_is_no_need_to_change_your_habits_over_coronavirus.html
oh for Gods sake – it is clear that the moron Trump doesn’t want to listen to anyone. trump claimed it was going to zero and would disappear. trump failed to recommend early lockdown to save lives. trump failed to coordinate medical supplies to States. trump failed to coordinate testing supplies. Now trump wants to reopen the country when infections and deaths and desperation in hospitals is still high.
Now more people will die because of trumps incompetence and failure. The only thing he will try to do is make sure he isn’t one of them!
I’d like president Newsom or president Cuomo at this moment.
And now he’s inciting the people of some states to “liberate” .. smh.
I get it, you foam at the mouth each time Trump’s name is mentioned. Can you put your TDS on pause for a moment and use a little common sense. Trump is not a disease transmission expert. He therefore has to rely on experts to guide him. He was told there is no human to human transmission, then he was told cutting travel from China was racist and not recommended (did it anyway) , then he was told that citizens did not need to change their habits. This was told to him by Fauci, the CDC, WHO and others. It’s just fact. Trumps wishful or calming remarks are not policy directives. Why is it that you cannot argue using facts?
You have no idea what is going on. Never mind Trump Derangement Syndrome – you are simple deranged. Seek help.
Another vacous reply. If you can’t argue on the merits why do you bother? Do you think that simple dissmissals are a substitute for actual thought, much less critical thinking? Not very convincing…
You don’t know what I’ve been through !
One of the greatest frustrations with all this is that the extraordinary measures taken by the Cayman government and others around the world are undoubtedly reducing deaths and suffering. But stupid people point to the death toll as being “too low” to justify the stay at home and quarantine efforts.
It’s a catch-22 scenario of lame-brains.
These are the same kinds of people who don’t believe in vaccines because they fail to see all the living people around them who didn’t die from diseases because of vaccines.
After reading some of the crackpot comments here I just hope stupidity isn’t as contagious as this virus is otherwise we will have a lot more to worry about!
“Stupid people share several identifying traits: they are abundant, they are irrational, and they cause problems for others without apparent benefit to themselves, thereby lowering society’s total well-being.”—Carlo M. Cipolla
According to WHO, in 2017 362,108 people in India died of the flu. As of today, deaths from Covid-19, four hundred and eighty-eight.
India has 14,792 acknowledged cases, only 2,045 of those are Recovered, and 488 Deaths (19.26%). Test/1M pop, is among the lowest on the planet at 243 per million people. BA is running 17 flights from London next week – please try to get on one if you think India’s got a better healthcare outlook.
Please explain your deaths 19.26% calculation to me.
Not sure, but I think it’s 19.26 of cases with a disposition. Not really useful because you can’t assume the same rate of mortality on all confirmed cases without a disposition. BUT agree with the poster that the number of cases and deaths are probably much, much higher.
Obviously the number of cases and deaths are likely much higher. The POINT is deaths have to go from 488 deaths to 362,108 to MATCH 2017’s normal flu deaths. I don’t see country being locked down because of the FLU. As testing everyone is not a practical solution how about the media posting hourly figures for other illnesses so we can get some perspective.
While kids are doing maths online it may not be a bad idea for parents to join in.
I thought you Trump-Fox News goofs don’t trust the WHO
Trump who? He’s neither my President nor that or most of the world’s population. Are you so simple a person that if someone points to non American statistics he must be pro-Trump. What’s your fascination with Trump. Please expand your thinking.
Not sure, but because FoxNews is so prevalent here and FoxNews is all about Trump, and this is the kind of stuff Trumpers and Trumpettes like to quote, that is where the assumption came from.
No, we have the capability to absorb, process and compare facts, unlike libtards
Trumpholes claiming a capacity to absorb facts. Hilarious!
Alternate facts at that!
Say the hysterical loon on a CNN umbilical cord
Another blue pill.
and 700K dies in the world, every single year of the seasonal flu
Ok, Florence Nightingale, so with your genius plan we don’t stay at home to flatten the curve and then we have all the flu deaths PLUS the unchecked flood of illnesses and deaths from this new virus. The world’s healthcare systems and hospitals would collapse.
Why is this so hard for you people to understand? Oh right, you get your news from Instagram and YouTube.
We’re doomed
Have you tried valium for you doomsday phobia?
+++ 09:40 Forensic pathologist Püschel: “The time of the virologists is
over” +++
He and his team are examining corona victims in Hamburg: the forensic
pathologist Klaus Püschel has now appealed to Chancellor Angela Merkel to
slowly reopen Germany. “Now is the right time”, Püschel told the “Hamburger
Abendblatt”, adding: “The time of the virologists is over. Now we should be
consulting other experts to determine the right way forward in the corona
crisis, for example ICU doctors.” His findings indicate that Covid-19 is “a
comparatively harmless viral disease.” Germans should learn to live with it,
also without quarantine. Püschel states that the fatalities he examined all
suffered from pre-existing conditions of such severity that, “even if it sounds
harsh, they would all have died in the course of this year.” The child and
adolescent psychiatrist Michael Schulte-Markwort told the newspaper: “None
of the numbers we know justifies the anxiety that is being stirred up in
Germany about the virus”, adding that it seems to him that fear is gradually
taking on a life of its own and that good news in connection with the virus is no
longer even noticed.
Every person needs to listen to this YouTube interview from Dr Judy Mikovits, PhD, with 40 years as a researcher. If anyone knows how to get this out there to Dr Lee and The Premiere, they need to hear it. Once the World hears what her and many others are speaking out about, the corrupt, their lies and their agenda will be exposed and humanity will be forced to wake up to the Truth!
Search YouTube:
Dr. Judy Mikovits, PhD about: COVID-19 masks, pandemic, vaccines and transmitting disease.
https://youtu.be/WgHeXcn5xAk
I went and found the link. You were right.
Thank you for sharing.
You must be as bat shit crazy as she is
She’s qualified. Are you? I despise people who do this. You lack the education and instead of you trying to learn something you’re bashing people.
And you probably believe the 3% of scientists who say global warming is a myth, right? Am I right?
Ahhhh. Right. Can’t possibly articulate two words without pedeling your religion again.
What’s the matter lockdown got you frazzled from not attending your cult group think sessions?
Answer the question and stop deflecting.
Probably same person
Typical flat earther fool.
No she is not crazy. Besides, there was a US study among US military on influenza vaccine interferences.
It concluded:
“… Vaccine derived virus interference was significantly associated with coronavirus and human metapneumovirus ..
I posted the link to the study few times already, easy to find.
that YouTube video is exactly the kind of crazy stuff this commentary warns about.
Some people are beyond helping I suppose
Over 20+ years working in labs with viruses and she’s not credible? You’re the one who’s beyond help. Next time you have a tooth ache just ask your neighbor who’s a plumber to do your root canal.
She’s an anti-vaxxer
She was also discredited for fudging results on another study. Not saying she doesn’t know anything, but it’s kind of like drafting a super athletic football player in the first round even though they tested positive for steroids. Draft/believe at substantial risk.
Some people are not lemmings unlike others. They question the narrative, dig deep, read around the subject, follow the money and draw conclusions.
For everyone else, there’s CNN.
Yeah, right wing nuts like Alex Jones will lead you to the truth. You keep believing that and keep watching FoxNews and stay smug!
During a pandemic you promote this woman who spreads anti-vaccine nuttery. Very responsible.
Sure, let’s all follow the advice of an anti-vaccer in the midst of a health crisis. Seriously if you think this woman is a credible source for medical information please read the above commentary and let it sink in.
Yes, people who say they have the cure are as smart as those who are telling people to pour bleach into their pools.
You can pour a certain amount of bleach in your pool. Leave it for 6 to 8 hours. Then enjoy.
Sorry you don’t know how to “rough” it out.
Please no! We don’t want people any whiter than they already are!
As many know there have been significant protests against ports, parking lots and mangroves. The argument is to leave nature alone and so it can thrive. That man destroys nature, climate, etc all in the name of greed / money. Fair enough. If persons truly believe this, as I do, am I the only one concerned that now we are turning away from nature to help us through this virus? Worse, that we are anxiously waiting for a vaccine to be created by greedy capitalists companies with laboratories that we all know can’t seem to produce a drug which doesn’t have dangerous side effects. Are we being inconsistent? Now that it’s our skin in the game, are we to trust man or nature?
Experts, experts, experts….are just discovering that they were treating critical COVID19 patients wrong…that is why mortality rate of people on ventilators is nearly 80%.
Don’t you think they,THE EXPERTS must know the difference between pneumonia and oxygen deprivation? Common, they are the experts and people like you and me are supposed to trust them???
“Prepare to think”????????? I have been thinking long and hard why would a young healthy man (in Miami) die from what officially was said coronavirus? It did not make sense until they said he was sedated and did’t wake up! Sedation is not a convenience, but a serious risk to life the experts MUST know that.
My children got their wisdom teeth removed with heart and breathing monitored during and after the procedure because their dad nearly died in a dental chair from sedation!
Things are making more sense now (in regards to COVID19 high mortalty) when the experts admitted they were and still are treating critical patients as if they are having respiratory failure, when in fact majority were and are having oxygen deprivation similar to that of high altitude!
They, the experts, certified and licensed are supposed to know, be able to distinguish apples and oranges!
Luckily there are doctors who still THINK, not just follow orders!
For Pete’s sake people. Experts are not perfect. Science is built on errors. That’s how it progresses. BUT anyone with common sense still trusts in experts and science over all the kooks on the internet because experts and science are far more likely to be right most of the time!
The real problem we are facing is that the experts and scientists don’t report the news!
In February the experts said the US didn’t really need to change their every day behaviors. Today the US is pretty much locked down and losing trillions.
The experts at the WHO told us that there was no human to human transmission.
The experts told us not to wear masks. 2 million infections later they said wear masks.
The experts told us the virus came from a chinese wet market for 4 months. Now the experts think it accidently escaped from a Chinese lab.
How long do we bury ourselves while the experts get their shit straight?
It’s a new virus. The scientists are learning more about it every day.
You go ahead and stick with Dr Oz, I’m sure his information has been consistent enough for you—consistently wrong.
I don’t know what Dr. OZ is saying, I’ve been listening to the US surgeon general, Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx.
Who are you listening to?
Re: in experts we trust. High mortality.
The virus may be new. But human anatomy has not changed. If one is certified in pulmonology he must be able to distinguish symptoms of respiratory failure=can’t breathe, gasping for air, and oxygen derivation similar to that of high altitude or carbon monoxide poisoning= one minute he is talking and next minute he is dead.
And the good ones, the doctors, have noticed that right away, but there is a standard protocol they can’t go against. Doctors with ER and ICU experience were the first to notice that something is not right. Now they are saying that each patient is different and divided them in 2 categories: those who should not be on ventilators, and those who have nothing else left, but air pressure must significantly reduced not to damage lungs, as well as patients should not be sedated for long.
All of this is in this short youtube clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp5RMutCNoI (Doctors Face Troubling Question: Are They Treating Coronavirus Correctly? | NYT News)
It is all over the news now, but was suppressed before.
The points I am trying to make: the real experts are few; science, powerful as it is, is a false god.
I believe the shift in how C19 patients are treated today, vs. a month ago, would greatly reduce mortality.
My sympathy goes to the families of the deceased. Please show support to each and every person who is currently fighting C19.
Yes, and the frontline medical profession is learning quickly. The endgame doesn’t need to be preventative; it can be therapeutic – leading to the feasibility of herd immunity. Effective treatment protocols/medicines can lead to a situation where large numbers of infected people won’t strain the medical infrastructure. We are not there yet, but we probably will be in 4-8 weeks. People just have to have patience.
There is only one expert and that is the Truth.
You are so correct. But in the meantime we listen to man’s media postings and await a man made cure. And sit at him wondering why we are stressed, panicked and irrational.
Yeah, what do experts know with their stupid degrees and decades of professional experience? Let’s all trust unqualified idiots on the Internet. So what if they live in their mother’s basement and don’t know the difference between viruses and bacteria? They still know best when it comes to our health!
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/ham.2020.0055 This should help you understand why COVID19 is not high altitude pulmonary edema, you’re welcome
just look at the stats… a likely 1% deathrate of those infected…..and we close the world down???
somebody explain this while we let millions die every year from starvation and lack of clean water.
still waiting….
This has been explained a million times by epidemiologists on credible news platforms. If you still understand it means you aren’t listening or you are relying on unreliable or dishonest sources.
Career health and infectious disease experts have closed down the world because there are, at present, 2,287,369 Confirmed Cases Globally, with just 743,306 Closed Cases, only 585,839 (79%) Recovered/Discharged, and 157,468 (21%) Dead.
By comparison, a recent “bad” flu season might inflict perhaps 30-60k global deaths from 100’s of millions of infected, and those cases do not consume all of the global supply of ICU beds/ventilators/clinical care and/or attendant stocks of PPE. The Death Rate has never been 1% – it’s a quantum higher than normal flus in every sense, but it is also the wrong yardstick for measuring COVID-19 societal impact.
Of the 79% Survivors that are Recovered/Discharged, many may experience lasting problems with residual pneumonia, lung scar tissue, diminished breathing capacity, and possible brain injury (from encephalitis symptoms encountered in a notable percentage of hospitalized cases). I wish there was more talk about this. Perhaps most worrying, 10% of those coming out the back end, do not seem to carry the COVID-19 IGG antibody immunity we’d like to expect. So they might be able to catch it again.
We are closed because there is much that is unknown, learned over time, combined with a limited variety/quantity of tests, materials, and clinical testing capacity (that only reveal a temporary snapshot). Watch Dr Lee’s presentation from the CIG press conference from 17 April for more info, avail on YouTube. For now, staying home is not a request. It’s the legal duty of everyone in the community – including those too lazy to understand why.
Stop the f*ind deception, lies and bullshit!
“By comparison, a recent “bad” flu season might inflict perhaps 30-60k global deaths from 100’s of millions of infected, and those cases do not consume all of the global supply of ICU beds/ventilators/clinical care and/or attendant stocks of PPE. The Death Rate has never been 1% ”
TOTAL HORSE SHIT! https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-disease-2019-vs-the-flu
Infections
COVID-19: Approximately 2,261,631 cases worldwide; 706,779 cases in the U.S. as of Apr. 18, 2020.*
Flu: Estimated 1 billion cases worldwide; 9.3 million to 45 million cases in the U.S. per year.
Deaths
COVID-19: Approximately 154,789 deaths reported worldwide; 37,079 deaths in the U.S., as of Apr. 18, 2020.*
Flu: 291,000 to 646,000 deaths worldwide; 12,000 to 61,000 deaths in the U.S. per year.
Influenza can and does cause the SAME PROBLEMS!
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090717150302.htm
ONE of THOUSANDS of articles.
Doesn’t suite their cause. More thumbs up for a local’s (someone living here) opinion than actual facts. Can’t help them!
Stop watching Fox News and YouTube. Real scientists have explained this many times. Dr Lee has explained it several times during press briefings. Alden also explained why this is necessary.
Turn off the quacks. Listen to experts.
Knowledge is power.
Dr. Lee is only a poor anesthesiologist thrust into the unenviable position.
Wake up.
You are scum.
We need to give time to front line health workers and the medical community at large. This is a new virus and the effects on the human body are not yet known. We need to stay home Cayman!! Not just for yourselves, but others around you.
I have lived here 20 years and call this wonderful island my home. I work hard and I love to play hard. One day, I hope we can all return to that. For now, do your civic duty as we are all called to service. We must stay physically distant from each other but know, we all care and love one another. It is this reason why we must distance ourselves from each other.
We are now almost 5 weeks into the start of this curfew. We all hate not being able to visit our beautiful beaches. I cannot remember the last time I got to watch a sunset but I stay in my home for all of you.
Please Cayman… do what is right. Stay home and stay away from friends and family physically. Communicate with them through the internet and make sure they are doing well. This will be over one day and I hope I see every each and one of you out on the other side happy, healthy and ready to get back to work. We will meet again.
Guy with respect maybe something simpler could be considered as an edit, – a little short but perhaps along the lines of to get the same message across,
‘Assume nothing, question everything’; – ?
Maybe he’ll do a cartoon version for people like you
Is that really a bad thing when 60-65% of the population think visually ? One Harvard study suggests we’re hardwired to think that way and verbal thinking only a relatively new thing.
From another source, same subject,
‘Visual thinkers give those of us who think in words that many more things to wonder at and write about, and make us envy their ability to create what we can only describe.’
I don’t mind if we leave it there ; )
Indeed. Cartoons are an excellent method of mind shaping.
Beavis and Butthead would be appropriate.
Crying for truth here.
Professor Luc Montagnier, a central member of the team that identified HIV during the early days of the AIDS epidemic, is now bucking the media consensus on the novel coronavirus by claiming the pathogen was at least partially edited in a laboratory.
Montagnier revealed his reasoning on a French medical podcast Thursday, according to the French newspaper Le Parisien.
Just relax, and allow your entire finances and livelihood be destroyed day by day and always remember to thank those who aren’t listening or could not possibly care less of what you are going through, (They not affected financially affected, please be considerate of that)
And cheer up, because you always have condescendingly parental and very Well-Though-Through articles such as these to remind you just how unimportant those things really are, such as keeping your house, job, health insurance and the rest of silly things like your children education savings.
Learn to be a little less selfish. And don’t question anyone.
Especially don’t ask scary questions like, why are the hospitals empty in the middle of a “pandemic” where a single wrong inhale can kill anyone randomly, and why isn’t anyone really sick or dying. Also do not point out facts like thus far, the seasonal flu kill many more people every single year.
Don’t ask those kind of questions because that might make some of the people feel very uncomfortable.
In short, take this shut-up you dumb-ass that can’t tell the difference between conspiracy theories and real facts so go f*ck yourself article….. more like as a cheer up, don’t worry – be happy kinda article.
Indeed – yet another B—-t article from the entitled. Guy, dear chap, take a trip around the many, many areas of Cayman that are not quite as entitled as you obviously are. See people that are living hand to mouth, have no income, food for family to find & rents to pay. Spout off this bull to them & just see the reaction. Truly another world. Quite unbelievable,.
Deranged and confused much? LOL. Poor Caymanians generally don’t want to die either. Talk about out of touch.
I don’t want to ever die.
I will live forever or die in the attempt!
Where are the dead people? Or do you “see dead people”?
Well, the whole scam is unravelling before our very eyes and we will be back at work soon. We must ensure that this Nazi rehearsal never becomes reality again. Thank God for those feisty Americans and I do not mean the politicians because they stink the whole world over.
Scam? Sorry bobo you losing it. Somebody needs to reread this commentary or ask someone read it to him
Nazi rehearsal?! Didn’t know Alex Jones reads CNS
Too Late! They’ve already lost it.
Reading between the lines a little I’m guessing you equat desperately drinking dettol to trained and immensely qualified doctors experimenting with known and approved medications to treat this virus while we wait for excruciatingly lengthy trials to be completed. There are hundreds if not thousands of “anecdotal” covid survivors that were given these approved medications because they could no longer wait for efficacy results. I’m guessing they are pretty satisfied with the efficacy.
I don’t think this dead lady is satisfied.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1185451
Or these 11 dead people.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sciencealert.com/clinical-trial-for-high-dose-of-chloroquine-stopped-early-due-to-safety-concerns/amp
Oh I get it, it’s ok to use anecdotes to root against a treatment, but not for it. The only difference being the “anecdotes” in favor of using Hydroxychloroquine are now in the thousands. All you managed to dig up is a single and widely linked article that makes a fantastic headline but lacks substance once you know, you actually read it. Maybe you can google the side effects of almost every single treatment for most any illness and see if you can find not a few but thousands references to negative side effects or death so let’s just give up on pharmaceuticals if that’s the standard. But let’s just take your article at face value, Shall we?
“Ligia received the drug after speaking by phone with her doctor, Levitt said. She was never evaluated in person and received no heart screening or warning about the potential side effects.”
“Levitt acknowledged that the family does not know that the drug caused Ligia’s death.”
Sounds like a prescription was phoned in. Only a complete idiot would make an argument using this as an example if you are being intellectually honest.
I recommend giving Hydroxychloroquine without evaluating cardiac conditions or other drug intereractions or even the patient for that matter. Said nobody.
6000 doctors around the world were polled about which treatment was best for covid-19. Hydroxycloroquine was most highly rated.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/apr/2/hydroxychloroquine-rated-most-effective-therapy-do/
Guy Harrison – well said, thank you and can you please post this on every public forum you come across.
> Natural remedies kept humanity alive for thousands years. Industrial revolution mid 19 century has changed that. Chemical industry after WWII needed to find market.
> I recommend you browse wearetheevidence.org site before you start bashing “conspiracy theories“. Pray you never experience what those people are experiencing 24×7
> I don’t even want to start on “anecdotal evidence” for it is useless and not my place to change your mindset. FYI when my nephew was 8 yo he had bone sarcoma. We were told he has 0.1% chance of surviving. He is alive and thriving and has 2 kids now. We used natural remedies. But it is all anecdotal evidence for you.
> Let me form my own opinion about Dr Phil, Dr Oz.
Emergency medicine is an excellent achievement of themodern world. So are vaccinations against polio, smallpox pox, diphtheria and tetanus and few others. Penicillin was another great discovery.
But When it comes to chronic conditions, western medicine is useless . So let me use my innate wisdom and remedies tested by centuries to treat myself and my family.
I’ll finish with saying thank you for your concerns, but my mental faculties are just fine.
“Natural remedies kept humanity alive for thousands years.” Not very well.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy
Note particularly the graph ‘Life expectancy by world region, from 1770 to 2018’
Also note the disparity in life expectancy between first world countries now that have modern medicine and third world countries which don’t.
it is not years to life, but life to years.
Artificially alive and just marking time is not life.
Either you’re not good with graphs or you are completely insane. The life expectancy in Europe before around 1875 was 35 years old, about the same as Afghanistan until about 1960.
That’s just because lots of babies and kids died, bringing down the average, not because people died a lot earlier after reaching adulthood
Keep going, you’re almost there. Now ask yourself why all those babies were dying compared with now.
Dear 4:20, I’m confused. This commentary is a clear call for Caymanians to watch out for lies and medical rip-offs connected to the pandemic . . . and you are upset by it??? Does that mean you are defending lies and fraud? Do you think medical fraud is a good thing? If not, then you kind of have to agree with this commentary, right? Maybe you misunderstood it and need to read it again.
I’m not 4:20 but I think you’re quite wrong. I think 4:50 pretty much nailed it.
I view those who thrive on conspiracy theories this way. Like so many other conditions in society, there is a spectrum. And where they reside on the spectrum depends on their mental construct. Some will be mildly afflicted by conspiracy theories while at the far end the person may be borderline paranoid and trusts no one or believes the world is conspiring against them.
It helps me pause, take a deep breath, and not jump to thinking they are batsh*t crazy. I accept this is just their construct.
Because your particular brain doesn’t allow for analytical thinking. You’re what I call a limited edition. You’re also what others call a “sheep”.
I bet if CNN told you go jump out of an airplane without a parachute you would….because they convinced you that you could fly.
I must be a limited edition too. Do tell which of the conspiracy theories would you like to share proof with us ? Should we start with contrails? Or that Armstrong never walked on the moon? Or that vaccines do more harm than good? Or the Holocaust never happened? Or the NWO has conspired to create a virus to control everyone? Which one would the so called analytical types like to start with?
People have been speculating for months that the Wuhan virus came from a lab in Wuhan. Well looks like those “kooks” were right and you were wrong. It looks like the Wuhan virus did not come from a wet market even though CNN BBC MSNBC all told us that’s what we were supposed to believe.
Here is what I believe, before you try to pigeon hole me. I believe we don’t know, and may never know the exact cause of the virus and I am open to and will review reports and facts as they come forth.
What I referenced in my list of conspiracies is the theory that pertains specifically to the thought that COVID was a coordinated effort by ‘whomever under the guise of the NWO’ to suppress people and the economies of the world intentionally. I can’t buy that one for a moment.
And you are what sane people call crazy.
Well said.