Blogfinger

The COVID-19 virus as seen by an NIH electron microscope. Its reality is deceptively almost beautiful.

How many would deny the invisible terror of COVID-19 and rent a room here or anywhere else? This is Ft. Myers, Fla. 3/20/20.

By Paul Goldfinger, MD

As long as man has had religion, there have been debates about whether there is a god. And that debate has always revolved around whether one can believe in something that cannot be seen.  In ancient times the weather or fate or life itself was, for some, indirect evidence of a god.  But not everyone accepted that argument.

In modern times we have no problem accepting the invisible reality of a child’s voice materializing in a cell phone, or the ability to watch a video on our phone or computer or TV.  We can turn on a light without seeing electricity.  And we can watch a live press conference from the Oval Office thanks to the invisible Wi-Fi.

The COVID-19 virus cannot be seen with the naked eye, but it is quite vivid under the gaze of an electron microscope.  But does everyone agree that this terror, invisible to the naked eye, actually exists?

Now we have an epidemic–a situation where an invisible force can terrorize us, make us sick, ruin our lives or even kill us.

But the concept of an invisible terror is not new.  All of us have known since childhood that if we have a cold, we shouldn’t cough in someone’s face. During the Black Plague, no one knew about microorganisms, but we came to accept the invisible germ concept when vaccinations stopped polio and smallpox.

Yet, despite thousands of deaths already from this world-wide epidemic, there are some who cannot believe what they cannot see. Yesterday, on the news, we heard some interviews with college kids on spring break.  They were not going to deny the promised pleasures of spring break “partying.”   One said, “We have been planning this trip to Miami for months, so we are not going home.”  This college student is denying the existence of the invisible threat that threatens her life and many people around her.

And there is a rising risk of this virus among the young who have been thought of being at low risk.

That is why government, to some extent, has to force or strongly urge public health principles on all of us, despite our traditional American value of liberty.    In China, they sent the army to Wuhan and shut down the entire city, and if you didn’t accept their mandates, then you would pay a very tangible price.

For the most part we don’t force people to accept the latest invisible terror restrictions, but in some places, for example in California ‘s Orange County or Colorado, the law has forcibly isolated some towns.  Telluride, a famous Colorado ski resort, now has mandatory closing of all ski facilities and all restaurants.  So, in a growing number of places, whether you can see the virus or not, you will be told what to do for the sake of everyone’s safety.  And public pressure at the local level is another means of urging cooperation.

In America we object to public health laws that might be enforced by police or military (martial law) and that would have to be a last resort.

Some people think that the fuss is just contrived intimidation created by the media*, but the evidence of this incredibly real and life threatening invisible terror is confirmed by highly reputable sources such as the National Institutes of Health, the CDC (Communicable Disease Center) and the World Health Organization.

But more than kids on Spring Break, there are many folks who, at some level, do not believe in the risk.  They make jokes, go wherever they like, and rub shoulders with groups of friends or relatives. It seems that there is a level of disbelief on the part of many.

Where I am in Florida, a senior community of about 500 small homes, a meeting of the Co-op was called for about 100 people to be held in a smallish community room.  They said that anyone who has health issues should not attend, but everyone else could come.   I publicly called them out on their Facebook page saying that having that meeting was a “mistake” and threatened those in attendance. I even put my MD after my name.

I was pilloried on that page by many citizens  for being critical of management while only one person thanked me for the health information.

I’m afraid that the invisible terror is still misunderstood by many.  A few days later, somehow, people began to wake up, and now you can see very few even taking a walk or riding a bike.  It’s like a ghost town.

The invisible terror is opposed only when everyone does what the public health experts are recommending, and those recommendations may very well become even more stringent and uniform across the country.

We can be somewhat reassured by recalling one tangible victory over invisible terrors when we look at the HIV  (viral) epidemic.  In the beginning those who acquired HIV stood a large chance of evolving into full blown AIDS, a fatal disease.   Now, being positive for HIV can be compatible with a normal life and little risk of AIDS and transmission thanks to new medications which have turned HIV into a chronic condition, with the invisible terror suppressed by modern science, and most of the credit goes to American genius.

* See comment #3 below for some additional information about a possible “media hoax.”