Time for some truth telling

On the San Diego County News Center website, Wednesday, July 22, it was noted: 587 COVID-19 cases were reported July 21, the third highest one-day total. To date, 25,107 cases have been reported in San Diego County.

Throughout the pandemic, San Diegans over 50 years of age have been hit hardest by COVID-19. While people in this demographic represent only 31% of the more than 25,000 cases, they account for nearly 96% of the deaths.

Today, more deaths are being reported in the general population. Of the 505 COVID-19 deaths, 291 or 58% are among the general population compared to 214 or 42% that have been reported in skilled-nursing facilities and other congregate settings

These latest statistics demonstrate that wearing a face mask needs to be viewed strictly from a public health viewpoint. It is time to listen to scientists and public health experts, rather than individuals who are not medical professionals.

How can it be 2020 in America and science is questioned and rumor and conspiracy theory believed over facts? Well, here is a dose of something we all need – some truth telling.

I reposted this description from a COVID-19 intensive care unit nurse, and it was confirmed by an infectious disease doctor.

“Here you go, folks… For those people who don’t understand what it means to be on a ventilator but want to take the chance of going out without a mask because they have the right.

“For starters, it’s not an oxygen mask put over the mouth while the patient is comfortably lying down and reading magazines. Ventilation for COVID-19 is a painful intubation that goes down your throat and stays there until you live or you die.

“It is done under anesthesia for two to three weeks without moving, often upside down, with a tube inserted from the mouth up to the trachea and allows you to breathe to the rhythm of the lung machine. The patient can’t talk or eat or do anything naturally – the machine keeps you alive.

“The discomfort and pain they feel from this means medical experts have to administer sedatives and painkillers to ensure tube tolerance for as long as the machine is needed. It’s like being in an artificial coma.

“After 20 days from this treatment, a young patient loses 40% muscle mass, and gets mouth or vocal cords trauma, as well as possible pulmonary or heart complications.

It is for this reason that old or already weak people can’t withstand the treatment and die. Many of us are in this boat ... so stay safe unless you want to take the chance of ending up here. This is not the flu,” the ICU nurse said on social media.

Anyone want to try all that out? Stay home and wear a mask when you go out. Stay safe and well. Let’s take care of ourselves and one another.

Kate Schwartz