I'm actually gonna upvote this, even though I think your phrasing itself has the very problem you accuse the article of, which is being unnecessarily intense/emotional.
But at the heart of it I think you're asking "What is the emotional cost, of all of us on HN reading and worrying about these things? Is the emotional burden worth the marginal information gain of getting scary, unverified news (something that happens all too much: remember fear of terrorism after 9/11)?"
so glad to see more folks speaking out against the mediopolitical coercion happening around the pandemic. it's both fascinating and horrifying to watch the machinations work their way into our brains and out of our hearts and mouths.
masks and lockdown, and spinning our wheels over who're doing those things right and who're not, aren't going to save us and is full-on, simplistic media and political performance (biden is still unhelpfully screaming "wear a mask!") distracting us from the weightier subtleties.
the policy that minimizes spread is to not breathe strangers' direct exhaust (not just air) for a prolonged period of time. we need to hone in on that one behavior, not its poor proxies, like masks and lockdowns.
distancing for instance is a much better primary mitigation for the populace, rather than getting lost in the fear-based political weeds of masks and essential businesses. with that singular focus, we'd have had greater agreement, cooperation, and effectiveness (rather than performativeness), and less uncertainty, anxiety, and fear.
For anyone wondering my entire family has passed COVID, 0 out of 5 of us have developed mental health issues. TLDR; People get paid more monies to scare you and lure in your attention by exploiting that vector of your psychology. Don't be afraid of COVID, do be afraid of countries locking you in your house to "protect you".
Do you understand what statistics and populations are and that they go beyond your family?
I have a connection to Bergamo, Italy and seeing them do triage (selecting who gets treated and who is rejected) last March/April was brutal.
Your comment is disrespectful to all of those who died, are currently dying or who lost one. And to those who suffer long term consequences that will affect them all of their life.
It's incredible that after nearly 1 year of constant information bombardment you are still too ignorant to understand that even 15% problematic cases will overwhelm the system and cause issues that you are completely incapable of understanding. Yes, 80% of infected will be just fine but the other 15-20% are what brings our healthcare system to its knees. Just be happy you were in the 80% and shut up.
You probably even think of yourself as a smart person (you are not), why else would you come to THIS forum and post this breathtaking bullshit?
People have different opinions. I am pretty sure you are not qualified to assess how smart someone is via the Internet. You just believe your opinion is more worthy or more accepted then the one you are attacking.
And I couldn't agree more with the parent you are replying to.
Cases are popping up. These days, we dont have to wait for the media to tell us how harsh covid really is. I know a number of people who have got it, and everyone of these is fine again. There was one case of a hospitalisation, but that person went to hospital with a lung problem last year as well, so they are what we call a risk patient I guess.
Waving the triaging situation around like you are jesus doesnt help either I'm afraid. Citizens are well aware that the triaging is due to politicians NOT putting extra money into the health care system. No, instead they were busy pouring tons of money into airlines and other industries which managed to cry wolf. I am convinced that if we instead had put only a fraction of that money into the health system, triaging would be way off in the future. But hey, it is easier to sell the measures if you can point at the health system breaking down.
