SARS/Corona Virus 2019 (COVID19) is a terrible disease, on a lot of fronts. The thing i really can’t get over are folks that say stuff like this:
i mean, sure? If you’re young-ish and fortunate, you do have a fairly good chance of getting through it alive. Hooray?
Of course, that’s not really the problem, at least, that’s not the most significant problem you face in the US.
Let’s consider what you face if you get the disease.
First off, there’s dealing with the disease itself. For some folk, it’s nothing. As in they have no symptoms what-so-ever. Other folks require hospitalization. How your body reacts to COVID is pretty much anywhere in-between, and there’s no knowing what it will be. There are also potential long term considerations as well, since it’s still quite a new disease and nobody is quite sure how it will impact everyone.
You may only be “sick” for a few days get “better” and since you got the ‘rona, feel you don’t need to worry about wearing a mask. You’re now a spreader since you’re still contagious since the virus is still very much present in your system. (You could also be asymptomatic, which means you have the disease, but aren’t showing or feeling any symptoms. Feel free to read up about “Typhoid Mary” if you want a nice, historical record of how this could happen.)
But let’s say you’re unfortunate enough to actually require hospitalization. Because we’re America, once you’re released, you’re looking at a bill of anywhere from $32,000 to $73,000 (depending on how good your coverage is). It can also be a whole lot more than that, depending on where you get your care.
i don’t know if you’re able to buy a car right now out of pocket, but that’s kind of the numbers you’re looking at. If you’re not, you’re going to have to figure out where to get that money. Again, since we’re America, you’ll probably turn to the age old practice of finding someone to sue. If not you, don’t worry, your insurance company will probably do it for you. They don’t want to spend that sort of money either, so if they can find someone who exhibited clear, reckless behavior, you bet they’ll be right on top of that.
Of course, if you’re in the clear and someone you’ve contacted afterwards develops COVID, well, let’s just say that announcing your open defiance of strongly suggested health guidelines may not be quite as bold as you had thought.
(i honestly believe that this is the major reason that the US has not implemented Contact Tracing like Canada has. i’m pretty sure someone figured out that having a clear path between litigant and plaintiff may not be fantastic.)
What’s more, again, since we’re America, and our health providers don’t like pre-existing conditions, this is something that could actually come back to haunt you years from now.
So, yeah, that’s why i have zero intention of going to large gatherings so long as COVID is still very much a thing.
