Inconvenience or Life?

To see the words written it seems quite silly, if posed with this question most people would say, “life of course”. Yet here we are entering our eighth month of a global pandemic and many in the United States are choosing convenience over life. Going to the mall, going out to eat, meeting friends at a bar or restaurant are all more important than saving a life. There is a conundrum to this scenario, as more people are out and about it means that people are back to work. Most are at work because they need to be not because they want to be. I am sure there are employees that cringe when they see a group of people with their masks under their chins, joking and laughing like all is well with the world. Those same employees probably pray before they leave home for work and when they arrive home from work that they did enough to protect themselves and their families from the possibility of contracting the Covid 19 virus. Doctors, nurses and hospital staff show up daily to treat patients who are known to be positive, but this is their choice and passion. They are honoring their lives’ calling. However; for hospitals that are overrun with Covid 19 patients, flipping a coin to decide which patient will be getting a ventilator for the night, they would suggest that people are not choosing life over convenience. Is our inability to sit home and do our part to flatten the curve such a huge thing to ask ?There are those of us within this country that are asking why the United States has the highest number of positive cases. It really is not that difficult. When decisions are made that liquor stores, strip clubs and beauty shops are essential, the numbers will rise. When people interpret social distancing as arriving in separate cars with masks on and then taking selfies with no masks, the numbers will rise. When less than fifty percent of this country followed the stay at home orders from the governors that actually put orders in place, the numbers will rise. Why did Europe fair better than us? Because life was more important than their convenience. The put their own comfort on the back burner and united to save the lives of their fellow citizens. We have seen the perfect models exhibited by other countries, yet we have states having county fairs with no restrictions, sport teams practicing and schools resuming with little to no precautions and somehow we expect different results. Did some of us actually believe that the heat would kill the virus? Did we believe that the virus would mysteriously vanish? Even if we don’t want to believe it, one plus one will always equal two. I consider myself to be a homebody, but I will admit that even I have had enough of being home. I haven’t been out to a restaurant since March, I have not been to a movie, I have not been to the gym, but life is more important that my inconsequential wants, I say wants because these things are luxuries and not necessities. A self serving agenda is the primary reason that we will see thousands more people dead before the end of this year. I know those who are sacrificing themselves not for selfish reasons but to assure that others have a chance to live would beg you to forgo your backyard cookout. I am sure these same people who are serving and treating people that made careless choices,t would be tempted to say “what did you think would happen”, yet they are doing their best to try to save them. Even if you don’t contract the virus or are an asymptomatic carrier, remember your desire to quench carnal desires may cause someone else their life. Since I love data, here are some fun facts. The next time you have the urge to take a quick trip for fun, or to hit a happy hour, I hope that these facts will resonate with your spirit, so that your inconvenience will save a life:

• A national robust mandatory plan of sheltering in place for forty five days starting April 5th could have cut the number of positive cases by close to 70%
• South Korea suppressed transmission by using a phone app to notify individual is they had been in contact with a positive patient, less than 48 hour notice
• Although controversial, China was able to suppress its transmission rates to nearly zero by enforcing a two month mandatory shutdown
• By lifting the restrictions in this country on April 30th, 41.1 million Americans are projected to become infected by October 2020, 334,500 of these will die
• Per capita, the United States lags behind South Korea in number of tests administered
• The average turnaround time for test results in the United States is close to two weeks
• Health care workers needed at least 300 million N95 masks, gowns, goggles and gloves in April of this year to keep up with the number of positive cases
• Manual contact tracing will do little to slow transmission rates
• Pulling your mask up under your chin or nose has the same risk of transmission or contracting the virus as not wearing a mask at all

To those whom these facts will have little to no effect, please at least be cognizant of those who do see these facts as alarming. Posting yourselves on social media in unsafe situations is a slap in the face to those who are fighting for their lives or those that have lost loved ones due to this virus or those that are putting their lives on the line daily. If only a life meant more than your convenience, imagine the differences we would see.