About one in three (32%) of Americans say they are out of work due to coronavirus or have an immediate family member who is. That number goes up to 41% for people under age 40.
That's according to a Rasmussen poll taken between March 19 and March 22.
The number out of work has likely risen further in the past week.
Nine in ten (91%) say they are concerned about the virus hurting their finances.
Ninety-one percent (91%) are concerned about the financial implications of coronavirus. A large subset of that number, sixty-seven percent (67%) report being "very concerned."
Entrepreneurs are harder hit than government workers or people in the private sector, according to Rasmussen.
By and large Americans say they support the travel bans and school closures. One in four say panic, not reason, is driving some decisions.
Click on the link below to read the poll story on RasmussenReports.com:
The national news media continues to pound the airwaves everyday about the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The local media outlets ride the coattails of this frenzied story and milk the pandemonium for all its worth to sell copy in print and electronically. It appears not one major investigative news reporter (notwithstanding Ms. Attkisson) has a clear head about the hysteria the public witnesses in real time. The stream of consciousness is so rapid the mind cannot properly decipher it in order to come to a rational understanding of how serious (or not) is COVID-19. I sometimes wonder of this disease is sentient and has its own press agent.
The first rule of any independent journalist is to be skeptical, to question, to formulate another explanation based upon gut feeling also known as heuristic thinking. That passion for truth is what drives them to research and uncover evidence contrary to what the public sees and hears from the citadels of authority about a particular topic.
Let us take logical steps and question everything we know to date.
1. "You should be tested if you've been exposed to a person infected with COVID-19."
In almost all situations, a person makes an appointment to see a doctor for two reasons (1) annual healthcare checkup (2) symptoms of a health related nature. What is the necessity for the COVID-19 test if symptoms are non-existent? If symptoms do exist, they are nearly identical to influenza and the common cold (e.g., coughing, sneezing, post-nasal drip, muscle ache, chills, intestinal disorder, low-grade fever.), the exception being difficulty with breathing or a high-grade fever. Even if the COVID-19 test is taken and the test result is positive, the patient will have to quarantine for a minimum of 14 days unless hospital observation or ICU ventilator life-support is needed. Most people eventually recover from COVID-19, with or without being tested; the statistics prove that. However because of the constant panic and awareness about COVID-19, the public thinks they have to be tested. What that does is drive up the numbers unnecessarily and cause more emotional anxiety.
Today (3/31/2020), New York reported 9,298 new cases. Let's think about the logistics behind this effort. To administer and test for the COVID-19 disease requires a test kit, specialized equipment and specially trained personnel. That means there has to be more than 9,298 test kits available every day given the fact that people will test negative. The actual laboratory analysis takes between 24 - 72 hours. That would suggest that hundreds of qualified people are involved at numerous testing stations setup in a sterile environment to prevent contamination and work long shifts in order to pump out this number of completed tests. The pace has to be horrific and generate a lot of paperwork, medical records have to be updated, communication back to the patient, etcetera and etcetera. My point is that somebody needs to verify this is actually happening.
2. "Patients have tested positive for COVID-19."
Okay, but was the patient tested for any other disease? We have to assume that Influenza Type A or Type B is in play here because of its overwhelming presence at this time of the year. In New York State alone there are over 156,000 reported cases and there are two more months left in the flu season.
Source: https://nyshc.health.ny.gov/web/nyapd/new-york-state-flu-tracker
The "white coats" (clinicians with their hair on fire) may very well say that deaths attributed to the flu are small in comparison to COVID-19. That is a true statement however if a person has a compromised immune system due to: immunosuppressant medications, chronic disease respiratory or otherwise, frequent illnesses, etc., the flu could overtax the body's defensive system and allow other pathogens such as COVID-19 to wreak havoc very quickly. Contracting influenza could be looked at as a "gateway" pathogen and setup a state of comorbidity where the body has to fight more than one contagion at the same time. This possibility necessitates the healthcare provider to confirm the presence of influenza or not and adjust the treatment regimen accordingly. People do die of influenza and influenza caused pneumonia by the thousands across America every year. Why hasn't the media presented this fact to balance against the CFR (Case Fatality Rate) of COVID-19?
3. "Patients have died due to COVID-19."
How do we know that? Has an ME (Medical Examiner) performed an autopsy on the deceased? Did the ME find evidence of other pathogens that could have contributed to the cessation of life? If so, it's wrong to add to the count of COVID-19 deaths. Why hasn't the public been made aware of this?
4. "Quarantine is the best way to stop COVID-19."
I suppose if government restricts the entire public to their "home cell" then eventually the disease will disappear. But that extreme measure is not what has been mandated. There are exceptions described as "essential work" such as public utilities, law enforcement, fire service, health providers, grocery stores, Wall Street, etc. Why did Governor Cuomo say Wall Street is essential? Why are the moneychangers allowed to work and the rest of the public who are healthy and not symptomatic denied the right to work? Cuomo has a huge problem in the Metropolitan District including Orange County due to population density. But there are less than 400 new cases reported across the rest of the 56 counties every day.
The number of cases reported during the flu season receive little or no press, even though it is in the hundreds of thousands. The lack of media attention to this glaring fact is puzzling. Perhaps something else is afoot that is being hidden from the public, something more sinister.
Did I use the word sinister? It must be my "spidey sense" kicking in again, the skeptic that I am.
The national news media continues to pound the airwaves everyday about the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The local media outlets ride the coattails of this frenzied story and milk the pandemonium for all its worth to sell copy in print and electronically. It appears not one major investigative news reporter (notwithstanding Ms. Attkisson) has a clear head about the hysteria the public witnesses in real time. The stream of consciousness is so rapid the mind cannot properly decipher it in order to come to a rational understanding of how serious (or not) is COVID-19. I sometimes wonder of this disease is sentient and has its own press agent.
The first rule of any independent journalist is to be skeptical, to question, to formulate another explanation based upon gut feeling also known as heuristic thinking. That passion for truth is what drives them to research and uncover evidence contrary to what the public sees and hears from the citadels of authority about a particular topic.
Let us take logical steps and question everything we know to date.
1. "You should be tested if you've been exposed to a person infected with COVID-19."
In almost all situations, a person makes an appointment to see a doctor for two reasons (1) annual healthcare checkup (2) symptoms of a health related nature. What is the necessity for the COVID-19 test if symptoms are non-existent? If symptoms do exist, they are nearly identical to influenza and the common cold (e.g., coughing, sneezing, post-nasal drip, muscle ache, chills, intestinal disorder, low-grade fever.), the exception being difficulty with breathing or a high-grade fever. Even if the COVID-19 test is taken and the test result is positive, the patient will have to quarantine for a minimum of 14 days unless hospital observation or ICU ventilator life-support is needed. Most people eventually recover from COVID-19, with or without being tested; the statistics prove that. However because of the constant panic and awareness about COVID-19, the public thinks they have to be tested. What that does is drive up the numbers unnecessarily and cause more emotional anxiety.
Today (3/31/2020), New York reported 9,298 new cases. Let's think about the logistics behind this effort. To administer and test for the COVID-19 disease requires a test kit, specialized equipment and specially trained personnel. That means there has to be more than 9,298 test kits available every day given the fact that people will test negative. The actual laboratory analysis takes between 24 - 72 hours. That would suggest that hundreds of qualified people are involved at numerous testing stations setup in a sterile environment to prevent contamination and work long shifts in order to pump out this number of completed tests. The pace has to be horrific and generate a lot of paperwork, medical records have to be updated, communication back to the patient, etcetera and etcetera. My point is that somebody needs to verify this is actually happening.
2. "Patients have tested positive for COVID-19."
Okay, but was the patient tested for any other disease? We have to assume that Influenza Type A or Type B is in play here because of its overwhelming presence at this time of the year. In New York State alone there are over 156,000 reported cases and there are two more months left in the flu season.
Source: https://nyshc.health.ny.gov/web/nyapd/new-york-state-flu-tracker
The "white coats" (clinicians with their hair on fire) may very well say that deaths attributed to the flu are small in comparison to COVID-19. That is a true statement however if a person has a compromised immune system due to: immunosuppressant medications, chronic disease respiratory or otherwise, frequent illnesses, etc., the flu could overtax the body's defensive system and allow other pathogens such as COVID-19 to wreak havoc very quickly. Contracting influenza could be looked at as a "gateway" pathogen and setup a state of comorbidity where the body has to fight more than one contagion at the same time. This possibility necessitates the healthcare provider to confirm the presence of influenza or not and adjust the treatment regimen accordingly. People do die of influenza and influenza caused pneumonia by the thousands across America every year. Why hasn't the media presented this fact to balance against the CFR (Case Fatality Rate) of COVID-19?
3. "Patients have died due to COVID-19."
How do we know that? Has an ME (Medical Examiner) performed an autopsy on the deceased? Did the ME find evidence of other pathogens that could have contributed to the cessation of life? If so, it's wrong to add to the count of COVID-19 deaths. Why hasn't the public been made aware of this?
4. "Quarantine is the best way to stop COVID-19."
I suppose if government restricts the entire public to their "home cell" then eventually the disease will disappear. But that extreme measure is not what has been mandated. There are exceptions described as "essential work" such as public utilities, law enforcement, fire service, health providers, grocery stores, Wall Street, etc. Why did Governor Cuomo say Wall Street is essential? Why are the moneychangers allowed to work and the rest of the public who are healthy and not symptomatic denied the right to work? Cuomo has a huge problem in the Metropolitan District including Orange County due to population density. But there are less than 400 new cases reported across the rest of the 56 counties every day.
The number of cases reported during the flu season receive little or no press, even though it is in the hundreds of thousands. The lack of media attention to this glaring fact is puzzling. Perhaps something else is afoot that is being hidden from the public, something more sinister.
Did I say sinister? That must be my "Spidey Sense" kicking in again, the skeptic that I am.
Dude, the first one was TLDR; you think someone might try the second? Cut it down by two/thirds please.