Column #239

Even before President Trump said we were at war against an invisible enemy, I had started this column with: “Our country is on a war footing just like many other countries all around the globe. What makes this so difficult is that there’s more than one front in this war."

The first battle is with a highly contagious virus. It could potentially kill up to 7% of those infected even though 93% of the known cases are being classified as mild. The second war involves job loses and business closings which have many financial analysts and economists concerned. The third war is internal. Will Americans close ranks?

We all know that most of the world’s population will survive these conflicts. Life will go on. But the future quality of life will depend on how individual countries hold together. Will they retain their freedoms and business entities or will the people demand draconian controls and government involvement in all enterprises in a mistaken belief that by passing laws (giving bureaucrats more control) they can stop all pain?

The definition of overkill from Merriam-Webster is:
1 : a destructive capacity greatly exceeding that required for a given target
2 : an excess of something (such as a quantity or an action) beyond what is required or suitable for a particular purpose

I don’t know if history will judge the medical approaches for combating COVID-19 as overkill or not. Only time will tell regarding how bad it gets. The next several weeks of distancing and closures should provide more clarity on that. For certain, as a nation we must do all we can to protect the most vulnerable which are the elderly, especially those with underlying health conditions. Although, we do know that younger people can certainly come down with the virus and spread it as fast as anyone. Some of the youngsters will die too. They aren’t completely bulletproof.

The virus has a definite foothold and there’s no question that detected cases will soar in the weeks ahead and scare the pants off everyone. What’s extremely concerning is that this virus is most infectious prior to symptoms showing up. As symptoms develop and progress, the virus is less contagious. That means the cases we are just discovering today have already infected others who are spreading it to others before their symptoms show up. This is why the number of cases should grow exponentially soon. That’s why only isolation can slow the spread for now.

Like with the flu season we can expect certain segments of our population (teenagers, young adults, and dunderheads) to most likely ignore health guidelines and be instrumental in accelerating the spread. Just because they aren’t sick, these people believe they are immune. They are the most dangerous amongst us.

Thankfully, more than 90% of the cases are mild. As infected people are cured, they will have immunity for the future. That in itself will help stop the spread because these people will no longer be carriers or even potential carriers. This is one reason why viruses like COVID-19 can run their course and come to an end.

There have been calls for a total lock down of every American. Well, that’s impossible. There are millions of jobs that must be staffed.
●    Crop Planting
●    Livestock Tending
●    Food Processing
●    Grocers
●    Power Plants
●    Oil Extraction and Coal Mining
●    Infrastructure Maintenance
●    Communications in All Forms
●    Transportation (Air, Land, and Sea)
●    Police
●    Firefighters and First Responders
●    Military
●    Border Enforcement
●    Hospitals
●    Medical Supplies
●    Manufacturing
●    This list of critical jobs is in the hundreds.

Without all these jobs being performed on a daily basis there will be many more deaths than what COVID-19 could ever cause. A simple thing like an AC unit failing can be deadly in certain cases. Therefore, AC repairmen are necessary.

If warm weather stops COVID-19 it may end up being less severe than the annual influenza epidemics that start in the fall. In terms of the financial cost incurred so far, many folks are wondering if the cure isn’t almost worse than the disease. Closing down some businesses for even a week can cripple them. Of course, some of them that involve groups of peoples have to close. That’s why our Federal government and its central bank have pulled out all the stops for funding the costs associated with the many shutdowns. This is another front in this war.

We’re  not talking about bailouts. The government is simply providing infrastructure maintenance for workers and employers. The Federal, State, and local governments are funding everything they can regarding the COVID-19 crisis because they are the ones who ordered businesses to close. Therefore, the closings are not self-inflicted by bad business management. If the businesses don’t survive, where will laid-off people go back to work when the COVID-19 epidemic passes? Every business startup requires a capital investment. If everyone is broke or bankrupt, then what?

To help with keeping the general public at least somewhat solvent there’s plans in place for sending every citizen one or more $1,000 checks if they are below a certain income level. This means helicopter money is actually being considered as a monetary tool! This is unprecedented and the long-term consequences will be interesting. But for now, what choice do we have in battling this war. We can’t let the virus destroy businesses and the financial system. In the end, the purchasing power of our dollars may depreciate because of these money printing policies, but keeping all businesses viable is key during these days of stress. Not everyone owns 40 acres and grows their own food, makes their own clothes, repairs their cars, and DIYs all the many tasks required to participate in our modern era. We need commerce.

Maybe the silver lining in all this sacrifice for COVID-19 is that when the virus threat declines the rebound in economic activity will be quite exhilarating. I’m looking forward to that.

What is unquestionably overkill is the third front in this war. And that is our “entertaining” media and some of the political actors. The steady, unrelenting drumbeat of criticism and scaremongering is way, way overdone. It has caused panic and sown distrust at a time when teamwork and reliance on others has to be at its finest.

No matter what the Federal Government does, there’s too much media focus on denigrating its leaders and its agencies for the actions taken.
●    When solutions are being advanced, the spin is that they are: too late, too fast, too excessive, too radical, and insufficient.
●    Instead of providing positive constructive lessons instructing people how to better cope with the new demands, they highlight terrified people who are spiraling down in fear and dismay.
●    Federal Leadership is demonized when it’s called uncaring, lying, and out of touch while it is striving to rally the nation and give it hope. To me, demoralizing rhetoric like that is reprehensible. It accomplishes absolutely nothing that’s good for mankind especially in times like these.
●    The president has been accused of financially crippling the CDC which was why that bureaucracy was so far behind the curve for COVID-19. Yet the Constitution states that “All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills.” With more digging we learn that the majority of the CDC’s logistical problems with gearing up for COVID-19 were caused by its own bureaucratic management style and regulations.
●    In the past several weeks everyone has come to know 79-year-old Dr. Anthony Fauci—a man who has pointed out shortcomings at the CDC and who doesn’t mince words about what citizens, the medical community, and governments should do to address COVID-19. When the critics publicize Dr’ Fauci’s critiques of the CDC and the government’s plans, what they don’t explain is that Dr. Fauci actually works for the National Institutes of Health and not the CDC. It was Dr. Fauci and leaders who listened to him (including the president) that are responsible for helping the CDC improve its responsiveness. Without the recent cutting of red tape we would be further behind than we are now because of the bureaucratic self-imposed hurdles. All of us who have tried to work with government agencies over the years know just what “stuck in the mud” means.
●    Instead of the media leading their stories with what’s being implemented to address all the many issues and that it’s impossible to provide them “overnight” for 370,000,000 people, the complainers hammer away at shortages and whine about everything taking too long to implement. Consequently people become impatient because they’ve been told to be impatient. That heightens the sense of panic.
●    Banning large gatherings is necessary for slowing the spread of COVID-19. Yet the detractors use the closures as opportunities to focus in on hardships and despair–even though safety nets are already in place and more are being put in place to help laid-off workers and to prevent industries (which employ people) from collapsing during the temporary shutdowns.
●    Spreading fear about hospitals not being able to properly treat everyone because they don’t have enough beds, ventilators, staff members, and more is not constructive. Instead, the emphasis should be on how the hospital industry has recognized real and potential requirements and is gearing up to have additional capacity and equipment. Then people should be told how, to what extent, and the timing for bringing additional facilities online. This is not a time to shriek about problems as if they aren’t being addressed.
●    Everyone should understand there’s no way the medical industry could afford to maintain huge surplus capacity. But they should be aware of the fact that the hospitals are improvising and doing their best to be ahead of the curve. We are facing difficult times and everyone is working to do the best they can.
●    The hourly drumbeat of horror stories about the steadily rising COVID-19 cases and deaths  worldwide and in the USA should be kept in proper perspective. Just in the USA alone nearly 2,800,000 people die every year with seven in 10 of them dying from chronic diseases. That’s 7,670 deaths per day. We don’t ignore the fact that people can and will die, but if soldiers in combat got the same kind of psychological backing as the naysayers pride themselves on spewing out on a daily basis to the American people, the troops would run for the hills in terror rather than stand and fight. America’s current low death rate is actually good news compared to the flu’s annual death rate. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to be concerned about and that we don’t need to work harder to stop the spread of COVID-19.
●    People aren’t terrified when they know that in most years 55,000 Americans die from influenza? And I don’t recall any runs on toilet paper during previous nationwide influenza outbreaks. That shows us just how terrified Americans are these days. Yes, COVID-19 could be worse than the flu, but not if we are proactive and positive in our commitment to stop it. Keep in mind that in recent memory the nation’s economy hasn’t shut down for the annual influenza event nor were hospitals overwhelmed. Although, to its credit the entertaining media usually publicized many alarming reports about the flu and provided advice and inspiration about vaccinations.
●    The spring weather and distancing may blunt the spread of COVID-19 and for sure they will reduce flu infections. That means that while COVID-19 may be picking up steam other contagious diseases may be slowing down. And it’s even possible that the tactics being implemented might even help stop the spread of COVID-19.
●    Let’s keep things in perspective. The World Health Organization estimates that the worldwide annual influenza epidemic results in about 3-5 million cases of severe illness and about 250,000 to 500,000 deaths. The world population is 7.8 billion. So far, on a worldwide basis COVID-19 has infected 270,070 people in 184 countries, 19,069 of them severely, resulting in 11,271 deaths. There has been 90,603 full recoveries. The world still has a long way to go with this pandemic but currently the numbers are far from overwhelming.

The USA should be setting an example to the world for how a democracy can pull together and take on challenges. So let’s inform the naysayers, complainers, and scaremongers that this isn’t the time for their shenanigans. It’s time for keeping our chins up and staying positive. It’s a time to work together for the common good. It’s a time to praise others for working hard on our behalf. It’s a time to keep everything in its proper perspective and not panic and rush around like chickens with their heads cut off. Yep, that’s what they do. I learned that 70 years ago by watching my grandfather after he got the word to fetch what’s for dinner.

One final point. Don’t forget to focus on your health and well-being. Diet has a huge impact on our immune systems and it’s our immune systems that protect us best from COVID-19.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

Don’t miss these links for additional reading:

Lower Severity of Kids' Coronavirus Called 'Puzzling' by Elizabeth Hlavinka, Staff Writer, MedPage Today

Fauci Successfully Walks Tightrope with Trump by Morgan Chalfant and Brett Samuels from The Hill

Infection Trajectory: See Which Countries are Flattening Their COVID-19 Curve by Nick Routley from Visual Capitalist

People ‘Shed’ High Levels of Coronavirus, Study Finds, but Most Are Likely Not Infectious after Recovery Begins by Helen Branswell from Stat News

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Mortality Rate from World Meters

The Importance of the Ratio of Omega-6/Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids by A. P. Simopoulos, PhD

New Food Analysis Tables by Ted Slanker

Immunity and You by Ted Slanker

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Ted Slanker’s Omega-3 Blood Test

We Need Inflammation, but . . . by Ted Slanker

How Fast Can the EFA Ratio Change? by Ted Slanker

Concerned About Heart Health? by Ted Slanker

Conquering Diabetes by Ted Slanker

Is Asthma Man-Made? by Ted Slanker