Report: Covid-19 doesn’t make us ‘stupid!’

Commentary

At least not all of us

The coronavirus pandemic is horrific. But new reports say the virus is only making some people stupid. Here are a few of them.*

*Note: The report did not specify if the people profiled below were stupid prior to Covid-19

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis

In a recent Around the Block, “The saga of ‘Smart,’ ‘Dumb,’ ‘Dumber’ and ‘Dumbest'” https://around-the-block.com/2020/04/15/the-saga-of-smart-dumb-dumber-and-dumbest/, I inadvertently omitted Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor. Perhaps I overlooked him because I couldn’t see him…as his head was so far up Donald Trump’s “tuchas.”

So why now? Here’s why:

From various news sources:

Health officials have long said that the novel coronavirus is particularly dangerous for older individuals and people with underlying health conditions.

But Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made an even more staggering claim, that the virus hasn’t killed anyone under 25 in the United States.

“This particular pandemic is one where I don’t think nationwide, there’s been a single fatality under 25,” DeSantis said during an April 9 meeting reopening Florida schools. “For whatever reason, it just doesn’t seem to threaten kids.

This is inaccurate. Florida hasn’t reported any deaths of COVID-19 patients under the age of 25, but several Americans in that age group have been killed by the virus. 

So far, the federal government’s count, from the CDC*, shows that there were two deaths among people 1-4 years, one between 5-14 and 13 between 15-24.

Note: The CDC is woefully undercounting. The data from which the age-related deaths were taken reported 13,130 cumulative deaths by the week of April 11 while most sources, including John Hopkins, have reported, over 38,000 deaths in the U.S.

Why? Because it takes “several weeks” for death records to be processed. Reports by news organizations and various state health departments show more fatalities among younger Americans, though it’s hard to say with precision.

New York state reported that 42 people who were 29 years or younger have died from the virus, as of April 10. Of those, six were 19 or younger and 36 deaths were people between 20 and 29 years old.

A Washington Post investigation identified nine people under 20 who died from COVID-19. The newspaper found 45 deaths of people in their 20s. 

All told, death remains rare for young, otherwise healthy people, but these numbers show it can and has happened. Relatively few children with COVID-19 are hospitalized, and they often exhibit milder symptoms, health experts say. Like adults, they can unknowingly spread the disease to others.

Senator John N. Kennedy (R-La) and Fox News Host Tucker Carlson

Sen. John Kennedy authoritatively declared on Wednesday night that the American people understand that the economy needs to be reopened very soon and that when that happens, the deadly coronavirus is “gonna spread faster.”

Appearing on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight, Kennedy—whose home state has been one of the hardest hit during the COVID-19 pandemic—insisted that social-distancing restrictions need to be quickly reversed because “very soon, the can is going to run out of road*.”

Note: If anyone knows what “the can is going to run out of road” actually means, please write me at Around the Block, P.O. Box 1234, Bat Cave, NC 28710

After asserting that the world economy would soon collapse if the United States isn’t opened up in the near future, the Louisiana lawmaker went on to claim that nationwide shutdowns “did not stop the spread of virus.”

“I wish it had,” he added. “But it’s too late for that. The shutdown slowed the spread of the virus at enormous cost, but it still spread.”

Because, according to Kennedy, social-distancing guidelines and widespread closures didn’t slow the expansion of the virus enough, it will spread much faster when those measures are pulled back, he said.

“That’s just a fact,” he asserted. “And the American people understand that.”

After Kennedy essentially said many more people will need to die to restart the economy quickly, Tucker Carlson thanked him for his “wise words.”

Anyone who sent 3,000 NIS to Israeli charity, Kupat Ha’ir

A charity organization run by one of the most senior rabbinic leaders of the ultra-Orthodox world, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, promises complete protection from the coronavirus in return for a donation of NIS 3,000 ($835).

After donating the NIS 3,000, donors will receive a protective amulet and a blessing from the rabbi protecting them from getting sick.

The charity association named Kupat Ha’ir (City Fund) advertised on its Facebook page that anyone who donates NIS 3,000 will be protected from getting the coronavirus. The idea behind the website’s campaign is that by donating money to sick families and people in need, donors will be protected according to the Jewish halachic principle of middah k’neged middah or “measure for measure.”

The charity is based out of Bnei Brak, one of the cities with the highest concentration of coronavirus cases. With one in ten of its residents diagnosed with the virus, the city was one of several areas in Israel placed under lockdown. Kanievsky, also known among his followers as the “Torah Minister”, most recently made headlines for his joint decision with Rabbi Gershon Edelstein not to close ultra-Orthodox boys schools and yeshivas, because children studying Torah provide physical protection to the Jewish people.

Needless to say, there are more. But hopefully, you get the point.