Randumb Musings: The "Real" Problem With Covid...

As part of a recent multi-way conversation on a local web message board system, we invariably had to touch on the issue of health (this is, after all, an area with lots of retirees) and the effects Covid has had on the world.

One of the participants mused out loud that he was wondering what things would look like today if everyone had ended up getting the disease before all was said and done... essentially positing what might happen if we just ended with the entire thing as a "survival of the fittest" scenario.

Well, given what we know about Covid so far...

For the vast majority of the world, relatively little, assuming that "the fittest" eat a balanced diet, aren't overweight, get some exercise, are non-smokers/non-drinkers — and weren't born with some kind of chronic health issue — and that has been their general lifestyle their entire lives, chances are they would have a short illness and then recover and move on. That would probably be 99.9+% of those under 60 with a healthy lifestyle.

Of course, the problem is that — at least here in the USA — just obesity affects some 42% of the population, and that tends to go hand-in-hand with a lack of exercise, and can often be connected to diabetes, heart disease and a few other things.

One of the participants in our conversation — granted, he's originally from Switzerland, before moving to the US 15 years ago — pointed out that one of the potential reasons why the pandemic affected the US more than many other western nations is precisely our unhealthy baseline lifestyle: Many people here just aren't in good enough health to battle off this kind of illness.

As I write this — late September, 2024 — some 115+ million people in the US have had Covid; with a 382 million population, that amounts to about 30% of the population. 710,000 — or 0.18% — have died.

Germany, another high standard of living nation with good medical services, has had 4.29 million cases in a population of about 83 million, or about 5.16% of the population. About 94,000 — or 0.11% — have died.

Sweden — who took more of a "developing herd immunity" approach to dealing with the pandemic — is another highly developed nation with quality healthcare, and they had about 2.75 million cases in a population of 10.5 million... or about 26% of the population. About 27,400 died, about 0.26% of the population.

These are simply statistical numbers that don't care about your social, philosophical or political leanings. They simply say this is what happened.

I may not be a rocket scientist, but simply from looking at the information, the "elephant in the room" seems to be that Covid was more of a problem in the US simply because we're in poorer health than many developed nations.

I don't buy into the idea that people in the US are "more reluctant to follow rules," because the Swedes had no significant rules and were not worse off than the USA.

I had Covid twice (or possibly three times) and was not more severely affected than the last time I had a bad case of flu. The second time I had it was more like a bad cold.

Not sure what prompted me to write this... other than just "thinking out loud."

There's just so much misinformation and disinformation out there, and so many strong opinions that it's sometimes hard to know what's real and what is not.

Sadly, a lot of people would rather swear by their opinions than look at the actual numbers.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great Friday!

Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!

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Created at 2024-09-27 01:40 PST
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