April 27, 2020
Monday PM

How would you like to be one of those people who has to live the rest of their lives knowing they killed multiple members of their family or family friends by unintentionally exposing them to the coronavirus? I know something of that myself, for it is I who in May 1972 asymptomatically brought back to Ketchikan the first case of spinal meningitis in this state in something like 40 years. My 20-month old niece was the victim, and, by dint of fortune only, she survived by the narrowest of margins. My father’s only brother (that he knew as such) died in 1933 of meningitis, and the disease has never been completely eradicated from Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio (it hides, then recurs every few years) where I routinely shopped while going to graduate school. I was lucky, my guilt limited to the knowledge gleaned about what might have happened.

Yes, it is true that the flu is a pandemic that routinely hounds humanity, and with certain virulent strains is capable of inflicting incredible misery upon humanity, but the flu is a known pandemic, a known virus, for which science has developed vaccines and at least semi-effective treatments, and for which humanity has inbred considerable herd immunity. The Spanish flu (which may actually be the Fort Riley, Kansas, flu) was such a cruel killer because it attacked people born after 1889 who had developed no immunity whatsoever to this particular version of the flu. That fact has only been understood to the extent it is understood since 2014 for an epidemic that occurred from 1918 to 1920. Science is hard, and most of you are stupid.

This is not over because some dirt bag politician says so. This thing is just starting, not ending. There are no real treatments for it (it’s just stick you on a gurney, a cot, or a bed, try to maintain your fluid levels, etc., and wait to see whether you progress or digress out of it). There are no vaccines, nor will there be for a considerable time to come despite the incredible efforts currently deployed. To date the fastest deployment in history for a vaccine is four years, and that is just getting it to the stage where it is safe and can be mass-produced. It then takes years longer to mass-produce the vaccine.

This is not the flu. This is not, despite claims to the contrary by the likes of Sean Hannity, Donald Trump, Rush Limbaugh, et. al, a conspiracy between the Democratic Party and Chinese Communists to un-elect Donald Trump. This is not the rapture, not the end of times, and any idiot who thinks so, please, go jump off a cliff. We do not have time for your nonsense. This is a colossal failure of leadership once warned that failed to do anything to prepare, and many more will die solely because of that.

Since Friday, March 13, when 1634 people in USA had confirmed cases of Covid19, the United States in a period of less than six weeks has incurred more casualties than in all of the wars combined this country has ever fought except the American Civil War and World War II. The dead exceed the dead of Korea already, and by the time you read this it is highly probable that the dead will exceed the battle deaths of the entire Vietnam War.

THIS IS NOT THE DAMNED FLU.

One could indeed claim that the flu inflicts far more casualties annually, and this is true; but 8000 to 20,000 people die annually of the flu in this country out of 16.5 million to 66 million infected. More than 45,000 have died out of 800,000 infected so far, and in the months to come analysis of increased death rates in cities will establish that many thousands more have died from this monster.

The whole idea behind social distancing and staying home, etc. is to limit the number of cases in order to limit the number of deaths. This disease has a mortality rate 30 to 75 times that of the flu. That number is variable contingent upon age group, ethnicity, and general health condition, and the mortality rate for persons 70 years or older is more than 20% of those infected. Allow it to infect as many as get the flu, and then you will have two to three million dead Americans on your hands.

When you asymptomatic psychopaths start running around town again here in a few days thinking that this is nothing but a big hoax perpetrated by the Democrats, understand you stand the chance of being a murderer many times over; and it just might be the case that you kill your own parents and grandparents. Go to hell.

The next two to four weeks is the critical time. There are 16 cases reported in this community. Give it another few weeks and anyone asymptomatic is most likely no longer infectious, at which time maybe, just maybe, we can say that for the time being we have dodged this locally. There have been two new cases reported, and that means any number of additional people have been exposed to someone with Covid19. Get this crap going on this rock, and it will only take a few dozen cases for all of you to realize the extreme limits of our medical facilities on this island. All of us will learn up close what a real nightmare is.

So take it serious, killers. Stay away from each other, stay home, and limit your activities. Wait, and let’s see where we are at a month from now. Maybe thereby you can avoid killing a friend, a family member, or, possibly, all of them. The local economy is already blown, so what really do you have to lose, killer?

David G. Hanger
Ketchikan, Alaska

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Received April 23, 2020 - Published April 27, 2020

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