COVID-19 Politics – Dr. Bedard

After a lengthy discussion with virus representatives, I can now confidently inform the reader that COVID-19 is neither Conservative nor Liberal; or for my American friends, Democrat or Republican. This is good news.

I have never encountered such politicization of a disease (thanks for killing some doctors China and Russia), so I would like to take a personal breath and remind myself as to the science of this beast.

The following is just my personal opinion:

COVID-19 is an RNA virus with one purpose in life: to reproduce, just like all lifeforms.

(The Selfish Gene – Dawkins, interesting read)

The virus would prefer not to be lethal. That way it spreads more easily and forever (head colds as an example). SARS-1, and MERS, the last potential pandemic coronavirus threats, were so lethal that they burned down their own houses, destroying themselves in the process. SARS-2 is smarter. It is quite minor for 80% of us (thank God, or whomever you choose). Some of us (20 – 40%  –  I don’t know yet) are completely asymptomatic but still quite contagious to Granny. So what then if 8/10 people get a cold? I agree. But, what of the remaining 20%?

Do we care as a society? Serious question… Actions speak louder than words.

Older, hypertensive, overweight, and diabetic… Not a rare case on the island… Not so lucky maybe. These folks often need a hospital bed or an ICU bed, and they tend to be there for 2 – 3 weeks at a time. Your hospital sector could be rapidly overwhelmed in the event of a surge. You saw what happened at Costco when everybody bought mountains of toilet paper. Crappy. Imagine the same line up for the one hospital bed, the one oxygen line… What of those with a non-COVID illness that might not get routine life-saving care? These possibilities haunt all of us on the front line I am sure. Hence the need for a slow-cooker approach rather than searing stir-fry. Low and slow allows us to manage in the health care world while (nobody says whilst anymore) we seek out vaccines and treatments. In other words, the efforts to flatten the curve worked.

People live today because of these efforts:

Coronavirus death graph shows how March’s lockdown saved lives: expert – By Patrick Cain Global News

But starvation kills also, and stuff costs money and things need to get done. Agreed, the economy needs to keep going somehow. So I remain puzzled as to why the crude, simple, partially effective strategies of physical distancing, hygiene, and face coverings are met with occasional disdain or anger? These methods help create a slow-cooker COVID (we’d prefer no-cooker of course) AND fosters safe re-opening. So why the silly politics? Following the above should help, not hinder, the economy.

Onto other matters…

There is insufficient evidence to promote hydroxychloroquine thus far.

Digression: What is “evidence”? The scientific method (See Khan Academy High School Biology for a recap) is excellent at ultimately discerning causation vs association (there is only science, no hyphenated science for me please).

For example, there is an association between Ventolin use and severe asthma. All of these folks use Ventolin, but of course that doesn’t mean that the Ventolin caused the asthma. Quite the opposite. Its use is simply and truly “associated”. The gold standard for evidence is the randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind studies with lots of participants. This takes time and money. We don’t currently have the luxury of time, so many smaller, lesser quality reports are forthcoming (best we can do for now in many cases) and these studies may contradict, causing confusion among the public and this doctor. As such, we in the professions cannot confidently cite evidence until this data arrives. It is then peer-reviewed (a bunch of academics try and beat each other up using fists of reason) and eventually we, the profession, come to a confident conclusion.

There is evidence that Dexamethasone (cheap and available) helps those who require oxygen.

There is evidence that Remdesivir can shorten the hospital stay by approx. 3 days (who knows if we will get this here).

There is evidence that passive immunity helps. Remember horse serum old-timers? That was passive immunity. The horse did all the work while you just sat there with tetanus. Other ways of getting antibodies include (horses don’t get COVID-19), if you are an infant – breastfeeding (babies really do well on this stuff, “human miracle-grow”, for many reasons, including the many antibodies given from mom to babe this way). Also, they (somebody knows who ‘they’ are) have had success for non-infants with the serum (blood) of recovered COVID-19 patients, and they are making monoclonal antibodies towards this also. (FYI anybody on an immune-modulating drug that ends in ‘-ab’ is on such therapy for arthritis and Crohn’s to name 2 – but these don’t protect against COVID-19)

There is evidence that weight loss, good nutrition, blood pressure, diabetic control, sleep and decreased stress protect you significantly – start that tune-up. It really does work on many levels.

I am not aware of evidence that promotes Vitamin D or Zinc. I also don’t care. (see evidence for parachutes). Cheap, easy, and many of us are vitamin deficient. I don’t bother with expensive testing (in general, there are special cases), I just take the pills. And good local food. And sunshine. I don’t like taking pills.

I do believe that a vaccine is coming. I agree with Dr. Tam (yes, I said it) that this will not be THE magic bullet, but it sure will help. Again, if we burn low and slow, we increase the chance we get a functional vaccine. This political debate burns now. The possibly-United-States are on fire. Bolivia has seen its medical system crushed and people are turned away that could have benefitted if only there was room. This is needless. Use the crude tools people. Suck it up if you can if these new measures bother you. If Sweden is correct, we will eventually all have similar national death rates (true ‘herd immunity’). But if we succeed with a vaccine, then they bet wrong and people died needlessly. This is not to scorn – who knows who will ultimately be correct, but I vote for low and slow with a functional economy.

Seriously, there are no other effective ways at the moment. I don’t like it either. But… It is a sacrifice far less than those of my grandparents’ generation (Hello, Adolf). Surely we can tough this out for a while. Remember, the virus is apolitical. COVID, like shingles, “doesn’t care”!

I read as much as I can on emerging data. I am glued to the internet, medical journals, and youtube (Dr. John Campbell, Med-Cram) This is being closely monitored by your medical community. We will certainly keep you informed once we know.

My advice: Avoid the politics…

Personal rant… As an oscillating centrist, I am sick of the garbage flung by both the far left and the far right. Take a hike the lot of you. Cup and Saucer is nice. Don’t worry about the edge. No evidence for parachutes… Rant over.

Continue with measures that you know, in your heart, your grandmother would approve of. Focus on your personal health; continue to live your lives and find joy somewhere in the day…

Safely. With some soap, a piece of cotton, some common sense, and kindness and patience towards each other.

– M