Biblical and Constitutional Politics

My Multi-Group Plan for Overcoming the Coronavirus Crisis

(Plus Additional Coronavirus Information and an Overview of the Crisis)

Part Three

By Gary F. Zeolla

      This four-part article is continued from My Multi-Group Plan for Overcoming the Coronavirus Crisis (Plus Additional Coronavirus Information and an Overview of the Crisis) – Part Two.

Outliers

      There are always outliers in any health perspective. By that I mean, there is always a few people who fall outside of the norm of what is true for the vast majority of people. For instance, most everyone can say they know someone who smoked two packs of cigarettes a day but lived to be a 100. But that does not change the fact that smoking is a great risk factor for early death from a variety of health maladies.

      Or take President Trump. He does everything “wrong” when it comes to health advice. He is borderline obese. He has lived on junk food most of his life. He doesn’t exercise, except to occasionally swing a golf club, but even then, he uses a cart. And he only sleeps 4 hours a night. But despite all of that, he is very healthy, as reported in his annual physical. (for more in this regard, see President Trump’s First Annual Physical). But if just anyone else were to follow his lifestyle, they would quickly develop health problems.

      I say that to say that yes, there will be people who are fit and healthy who will have serious CV consequences. The authorities will use those isolated cases to scare us into believing that everyone is at risk of serious CV consequences. That is true. Anyone just might contract the CV and die from it. However, not everyone is at the same risk of doing so. That is what the authorities downplay but my plan is based upon.

Data on more than 1,400 hospitalizations released Wednesday [4/8/20] by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that just over 25 percent of people hospitalized with covid-19 were under age 50. Most of these young people suffered from underlying conditions such as asthma, diabetes and hypertension. But at least seven for whom the CDC had data had no outside health problems, underscoring that a small fraction of severe cases remain hard to explain (MSM).

      Simply put, yes, a fit and healthy person could die if he or she were to be infected with the CV, but he or she has a much greater chance of dying in a car accident. But we don’t tell people to not drive cars for that reason.

      Back to the numbers. At the time I was writing this section, we had just passed 50,000 CV related deaths here in the USA. But let’s double that to account for deaths that will occur in the future. God-willing, the death count will not reach 100,000, but let’s go with that number.

      Again, half of all deaths are among those in nursing homes. That takes us down to 50,000. Then 18.8% are in NYC. That tasks us down to 40,600 for those outside of that one city. Half to 90% are among those with just the preexisting conditions of hypertension and diabetes. That takes down to 4,060 - 20,300 deaths for those not in the preceding categories. Meanwhile, “In 2017, 40,327 people killed in U.S. motor vehicle collisions” (Safer).

      What that means is, if you are fit and healthy, you have from a two to ten times greater chance of dying in a crash in the next year than you have of dying from an CV infection. But the vast majority of people, whether healthy or not, do not avoid driving a car for this reason. We just accept it as part of life.

      We could compare many other death statistics from other causes, and most would show the same pattern. Things we do every day and think nothing of would have greater risk of death than a CV infection for the fit and healthy.

      Life has risks. That is life. But the vast majority of us do not hide under our bed covers to protect ourselves from them. We just live our lives and put the risk out of our minds.

      Moreover, I would bet that many of those who have died and are said to not have preexisting health conditions probably did, but they did not know about them. As I reported previously, a female doctor on TV said that anytime she treats a young person experiencing serious CV consequences, she always checks their blood sugar, and every time, it is sky high. In other words, they had undiagnosed diabetes.

      I say that as one such outlier case I read about was an article about a man who was in his mid-40s and was said to have no preexisting conditions. But from his picture, he looked overweight to me, though it was hard to tell since it was only a face shot. But if he was overweight, that in itself is a risk factor. I would assume he had his blood pressure checked when he checked into the hospital, but I wonder if he also had his blood sugar checked. You would think he would, but not all doctors are as meticulous as that doctor on TV.

      The point is, the number of people who are truly fit and healthy with no preexisting conditions who die from a CV infection is minimal compared with all of the other risks life entail. No one can guarantee that it won’t happen, but then, no one can guarantee you won’t step out of your front door after your read this article and get hit by a bus. But I hope that won’t keep you from leaving your house, and neither should fear of the CV if you are in this category.

      As for myself, death doesn’t scare me due to my Christian faith. I know where I am going, as I know Jesus died for my sins. However, I do not want to die anytime soon, as I believe the LORD still have lots to do in this life. But when the time comes for the LORD to call me home, I am ready.

            ²¹For to me to be living [is] Christ and to die gain! ²²But if [I am] to be living in [the] flesh, this [will mean] to me fruit from labor [or, fruitful labor]. And what will I choose [or, prefer]? I do not know. ²³But I am hard-pressed by the two, having the desire to depart and to be with Christ, [which is] far better, ²⁴but to be remaining in the flesh is more necessary for your* sake. ²⁵And having become convinced of this, I know that I will remain and will continue with you* all, for your* progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶so that your* boasting shall be abounding in Christ Jesus in [or, because of] me by means of my arrival again to you (Philippians 1:21-26).

The Media and the Death Rate

      However, instilling exaggerated fear in people is the media with their nonstop reporting of CV cases and deaths. If they did the same with car accidents, reporting a running total of accidents and deaths every day, no one would ever get into a car again.

      If they want to report a running total, why not make it the number of those who have recovered from a CV infection? That number is growing by leaps and bounds every day, but you hardly never hear about it. I know it is growing rapidly, as at least 99% of people who get infected recover. That is what people need to hear, not the cases and death counts.

      Yes, once all of the data is in, it most certainly will turn out that less than 1% of people who are infected with the CV will die from it.

      I’ve explained it before, but it bears repeating. The death rate is the number of deaths divided by the number of infected. But when you see the ticker tape of deaths and cases on TV, the denominator, the number of cases, is currently vastly under-reported. Once more testing is done, we will find out that a large number of people had the disease but did not know it. Then with the denominator elevated, that will rapidly decrease the resultant death rate.

The UK government’s scientific advisers believe that the chances of dying from a coronavirus infection are between 0.5% and 1%. This is lower than the rate of death among confirmed cases - which is 4% globally in WHO figures and 5% in the UK as of March 23 - because not all infections are confirmed by testing (BBC).

One often-heard statistic is the “case-fatality rate,” that is, the percentage of people diagnosed with the disease who will die of it. This afternoon [4/3/20] that figure stands at 2.5 percent for the U.S. A huge problem is that the magnitude of this figure is significantly inflated because it does not take into account people who are asymptomatic or who suffer and recover at home and thus do not come into contact with the medical surveillance system. What we really need to know is the infection-fatality rate, that is, the percentage of all of the people infected who eventually die of the disease….

Applying adjustments for demography and location, the researchers [from Lancet Infectious Diseases] found that the case-fatality rate for both Chinese and outside cohorts is about 1.4 percent…. This basically matches the Chinese case-fatality rate reported in a March Nature Medicine study.

The researchers take the next step and try to estimate the number of undetected cases in Wuhan by applying the observed prevalence of infections among travelers repatriated on six flights from Wuhan over three days between January 30 and February 1. They ultimately calculate that the infection-fatality rate for COVID-19 in China is around 0.66 percent (Reason).

Housing & Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson told “The Story” Thursday that not enough public attention is being paid to “the number of people who have recovered” from coronavirus” -- which Carson said “is going to be about 98 percent of all the people who get it.” Carson, a one-time Baltimore pediatric neurosurgeon, added that between one-quarter and one-half of all people infected with coronavirus are asymptomatic.

“You probably do know someone that has it, you may have it, who knows?” Carson told host Martha MacCallum. “But people have been terrified because we’ve talked about the bad.” (Fox News).

      Carson is so right in that last sentence. The media needs to spend more time on the good, the people who are recovering, than on the bad, the people who are dying. The former is far greater than the latter.

      Take the nursing home I mentioned about in Part One in which ten residents had died while 22 had recovered. There were actually 68 residents who had tested positive for COVID-19. That means, 36 of the cases had not yet resolved. But we will probably only hear an update in the local news if one or more of those 36 die. If all of them recover, it will be crickets.

      Back to the death rate. As I review this section, at 4:43 am on April 29, 2020, the US had just passed the one million mark with 1,004,908 “confirmed cases” and 57,812 deaths (From Fox News’ homepage). I am sure the media will play up that one million mark, and they already are declaring that more people have died from the CV than died during the entirety of the Vietnam War. If you do the math with these latest figures, you will come up with a 5.75% death rate. But the denominator, which is to say, the number of cases, is way lower than what it will be once more testing is done. That artificially inflates the death rate.

      When I first reported the projected death rate, I quoted Dr. Anthony Fauci as saying he expected the ultimate death rate to be 1.0%. The death rate for the seasonal flu is 0.1%, so the media reported that projected figure as being “ten times greater than the seasonal flu.” That is an order of magnitude, but it does skew the perception. 0.1 to 1.0 is not nearly the same as 1 to 10 or 10 to 100.

      But then a bit later, I reported Dr. Deborah Brix as predicting the death rate would ultimately be 0.7%. That lowered estimate did not receive nearly the press as the first number did, as seven times the flu rate does not sound as scary as ten times.

      But now, most authorities are predicting an ultimate death rate of about 0.5%. That would make the CV five times as deadly as the seasonal flu. That is still tragic, but it means 99.5% of people who get the CV will recover from it. But the media never reports it that way. As a result, many Americans seem to think a CV infection is a death sentence. But that is not even close to being the case with nursing home residents, as explained previously, let alone for the population as a whole.

      To look at it another way, let’s say the death number does reach 100,000. That would be just 0.03% of the US population. This is not to minimize the tragic nature of each and every one of those deaths, but it does put it in perspective. The risk for any given American is relatively low. The media never tells you that. It makes it sound like we are all going to die. But the CV is not the Black Death, with its 30-50% death rate. But such a perception is used to justify the the draconian measures the authorities have put in place. But due to those measures, a projected one out of five American workers will eventually be out of work. That is more cause for alarm than the CV death rate.

      Otherwise, when you put on the news, be it in on radio or TV, upwards of 90% of the coverage is about the CV. That is all they talk about. The same goes for talk shows, social media, and just about any other public forum. Again, if that were done with car accidents, we would never drive again.

      Or again, a better comparison would be seasonal flu. As I reported previously, the 2017-18 flu season was the worst in 40 years, yet most of us probably didn’t even know that. I know I didn’t before I started doing research in that regard. But with up to 80,000 Americans having died that flu season, you would have thought it would have made the news somewhere. But crickets, at least as far as I can remember. But the media has made it sure that no one ever forgets this outbreak.

RNA Testing

      The authorities seem to envision a world where before anyone enter a business, they need to be tested to see if they are currently infected with the CV. That would keep all who are infected out of that building. That then relates to their attempt to keep everyone from getting infected. But again, that approach is wrong headed, and trying to test everyone even more so.

      Some more numbers. At the CV task force briefing on April 24, 2020, Vice President Mike Pence reported that to that date, 5.1 million Americans have been tested. He said that was more than all other countries combined. That is truly incredible. At a more recent CV task force briefing, Pence mentioned that the goal is to test two million Americans per week. That would be 104 million Americans in the next year. A large number, but nowhere near what would be needed for this approach.

      There are currently about 331 million Americans. That means, we would need to increase the amount of testing 60 times beyond what has already been done and three times beyond that lofty goal to test each person just once in the next year. But we have already done more tests than the rest of the world combined!

      Moreover, just once won’t do. If the same person goes to more than one business on the same day, he or she would need to be tested at each place. In addition, a person could be tested as being negative today, then get infected tomorrow. As such, he or she would need to be tested every time he enters any business.

      In the end, we would need billions upon billions of tests to fulfill the demands of this approach. That in a word, is impossible. Even if we devoted the entirety of our manufacturing system to producing tests, it would never be enough.

“Show Me Your Papers” and 666

      In the preceding, I am referring to the RNA test that shows if someone currently has the virus. The other test is the antibody test that shows if someone had the virus but has recovered from it. The next idea of the authorities is that once someone tests positive, meaning they are now immune and not infectious, they will be given an “immunity card.” They can then show that card when entering a building.

      I discuss this possibility and the problems with it in my article Come May One I’m Done. But here, I will just say, it sounds like Nazi Germany. For those who don’t know, during World War II in totalitarian Germany, in order to travel, you needed government issued papers that gave you such permission. I’m sorry, but I do not want to live in that kind of society. And if they start talking about tattooing someone’s right hand or forehead to show they are immune, you can count me out.

      For those who don’t know, that is a reference to the last book of the Bible, The Revelation chapter 13, where it states:

      ⁶And it [the beast] makes all [people], the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the freemen and the bondservants, that they shall give to them marks on their right hand or on their forehead, ¹⁷and that no one is able to buy or to sell, except the one having the mark: the name of the beast or the number of its name.

            ¹⁸Here is the wisdom—the one having understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person [or, of humanity]. And its number is six hundred sixty-six.

      Note that “the beast” is the henchman of Satan.

      In any case, the point is, despite what the authorities are saying, it is not necessary for everyone to be tested before we can begin to open things up. All that is needed is for people to be aware of which group they fall into and to take precautions appropriate for their situation.

      Yes, we need testing, in nursing homes and hospitals. But beyond that, it is only needed to get an accurate count of the rate of infection and of the resultant death rate, as just discussed. But it is not relevant for opening up the country.

Vaccines and Therapeutics

      What we really need is a reliable vaccine and/ or therapeutic. In regard to a vaccine, I just heard a report on Pittsburgh’s KDKA radio on April 29 that Oxford University researchers hope to have a vaccine by September of this year (2020). They have already tested it successfully on Rhesus Monkeys, and they just started a trial with 1,000 people. 500 were given the vaccine, while the other 500 were given a placebo.

      The same morning, I heard a report on one of my local TV news stations, WPXI (NBC affiliate), about work being done here in Pittsburgh, at Pitt University. They have also just started human trials with a vaccine, though at a smaller scale than Oxford.

      However, some have been saying the CV is mutating, so it will not be possible to produce a vaccine against it. In other words, like the seasonal flu, it will keep changing, so we will need to keep producing new vaccines. But I have heard doctors discuss this issue. It is true there has been some mutation in the virus. That is how we know California was first infected by the CV coming from China, while NYC was first infected by the CV coming from Europe, due to slight differences between the virus on each coast. But the doctors are saying the part of the virus that is mutating is not the part that the vaccines would use to develop immunity in the human body against the virus. That is good news.

      However, even if a vaccine is developed, as I warned before, the antivaxxers are already trying to scare people off of getting it. Though I generally disagree with antivaxxers, this time they might have a point. There is a rush to develop a vaccine. As such, it might not be fully tested when it is first rushed out. Thus, many are already saying they will be hesitant to get it. That will hinder any positive effect of a vaccine.

      As for myself, a point I failed to mention in my “Perspectives” article is that I always get the flu shot each fall. I did so in October of 2019, but I still got sick a couple of weeks ago. If it was the flu I had, antivaxxers will point to that and say, “See, we told you the flu vaccine doesn’t work.” However, it is known that those who get a flu shot but still get the flu generally have less severe symptoms and they are of a shorter duration than those who do not get the flu shot. That was the case with me. Thus, the flu shot did help me, along with my eating and exercise habits building up my immune system.

      But some might ask, if I have such a strong immune system from my healthy habits, why did I get sick at all? Well, you must remember, I am 59 years old, and I suffer from many health problems that are not lifestyle related. Those lessen my ability to withstand infection. But my healthy habits counteract that lessening to a great degree. In fact, if it were not for my healthy habits, I would probably be barely able to function on a regular basis. That then takes me back to my outrage over the closure of commercial gyms. They don’t affect me due to my home gym, but I feel for those in similar circumstances as me but who depend on a commercial gym. They are probably seeing a decline in their health right now without that gym access.

      As for if I would get the COVID-19 vaccine when it comes out, I would first want to get the antibody test to see if I did have COVID-19 when I was sick a couple of weeks ago. If I did, then the vaccine would not be needed. But if not, then I would probably wait a bit. Let others who are younger and healthier than me take the risk of experiencing unknown side effects. Then I will have better information on which to base that choice.

      As for therapeutics, remdesivir was just shown to somewhat lessen the duration and lethality of CV infection, while convalescent plasma transfusions are looking promising. Other possible treatments are also in the works. I just heard on April 29 on one of my local TV news stations, WTAE (ABC affiliate), that a Pittsburgh biotech firm was working on one such drug.

      With the amount of work being done with therapeutics, I truly hope a reliable one is not too far away. Once people know there is a treatment if they suffer serious CV consequences, they won’t be as reluctant to leave their bunkers and to reenter the world as things start to reopen.

Short Random Thoughts

      Let me now close this Part Three of this four-part article with ten short random thoughts on various topics related to the CV.

1. Sports Stadiums and Other Large Venues:

      The first is in regard to sports stadiums and other large venues, like arenas and convention centers. I have no idea how they might open. My ideas for businesses, gyms, and churches would not work here. The number of people is just too great.

      Some have floated the idea of temperature checks of everyone entering the stadium or venue. But, as I reported previously, temperature checks are useless, as many who are infected do not have a fever. Some have suggested people only sitting every other or even every third seat. That might work once people are inside the stadium, but outside, there is no way for people to stand six feet apart waiting to enter the stadium or venue.

      Some more math. For a stadium sitting 60,000 people, 6’ x 60,000 people equals 360,000’ or 68 miles. That is a quite a long line. Even with multiple lines, it still is just not practical. There are only so many gates at a sports stadium. Even with a dozen gates, that would still have lines 5.67 miles long at each gate.

      But most of all, with the fear the authorities and the media have instilled in people, there is no way you will get tens of thousands of people to congregate anywhere for any reason. Even here in Pittsburgh, with the incredible loyalty of Steelers Nation, I just don’t see 60,000 Pittsburghers cramming into Heinz Field for a Steelers game.

      In fact, I doubt you could get more than a few thousand. That would alleviate the social distancing problem, but it would probably not be profitable for a stadium or other large venue to operate at say 20% capacity. My recommendation of 50% capacity is probably pushing it for a lot of businesses and their bottom line, and less than that would just not be profitable for stadiums or other such businesses.

      Then again, I heard on WTAE TV news on April 30 that the Kenny Chesney concert was still on for May 30 at Heinz Field. That concert is always sold out, with the crowds leaving a massive mess in the parking lots. We will see what happens this year.

2. Business Closures:

      This then leads to my second random thought. I disagree with the business shutdowns in their entirety. But if there was to be shutdowns, rather than “essential” versus “non-essential” being the criteria as to which businesses stay open or must close, it should have been “safe” vs. “unsafe.”

      In other words, most businesses could have continued operations but with alterations to allow for social distancing. But some by their very nature could not, the aforementioned stadiums and other large venues are among them. Also in this category would be barber shops, beauty shops, massage parlors, and the like, all of which require the attendant to be very close to and even touching the customer. There is no way to practice social distancing in such circumstances. However, most stores and other businesses would be able to do so and should have never been closed.

      This “safe” vs. “unsafe” idea was in fact the approach of North Dakota. As a result, ND only closed 7% of its businesses, namely the aforementioned barber shops, beauty shops, massage parlors, and the like, along with dine-in service in restaurants and bars. The other 93% of businesses remained open. As a result, the economy of ND did not take the hit that most other states did from business closures. Despite that, as of April 28, ND only had 19 CV-related in the entire state. That is because they put an emphasis on personal responsibility rather than government mandates.

      But still, it probably would be wise for those who work directly with the public to wear masks. Whether they help or not, it will ease the fears of the customers. In fact, it will probably be necessary for barbers, hair stylists, and the like to wear masks and even full PPE for people to feel comfortable with going to such facilities. That is what is being done in Georgia, which has already opened such businesses.

      Also, the chair the customer sits on or the table the customer lies on needs to be disinfected between every customer, along with equipment the worker uses. The customers would be wise to go straight home afterwards, take off the clothes they were wearing and put them into the wash, take a shower, then put on clean clothes. Such has been my practice for a long time whenever I go out due to my MCS, so it sounds perfectly normal to me.

      Also, I went mostly bald years ago, so the difficulty many are having about not being able to get their haircut doesn’t affect me. I never thought I’d be happy about going bald, but it looks like now it was a good thing. The little bit of hair I still have on the edges, I trim myself with my beard trimmer. Along those lines, a female DJ on KLOVE said, “There’s three people here who haven’t figured out to give themselves a haircut, so you should be glad this is radio.”

      For those who don’t know, KLOVE is a nationally syndicated Christian music radio station. It is also available on iHeartRadio. If you haven’t listened to it before, I would suggest you check it out.

3. Children:

      I have not mentioned children throughout my writings on the CV, as I do not have any. As such, I always feel uncomfortable giving recommendations in that regard. But I will say, the stay at home orders have got to be very difficult on the emotional states of the 55 million school age children in the USA. I wonder if anyone has even considered them in the midst of this crisis. I really have not heard much mention, but there is bound to be some emotional problems developing among them.

      There will also be academic ramifications due to the closure of schools. I heard on NBC Radio News that as of mid-April over half of high schoolers have yet to sit through even one online class. That academic regression will be hard to overcome for many students.

      I have not mentioned playgrounds, but like gyms and parks for adults, playgrounds are where children get their exercise and where they socialize. As such, they should have remained open and should be among the first places to reopen. Being outside, there would not be a great risk of infection, especially with summer coming. Caution just should be taken to have the playground equipment disinfected regularly. But rather than letting them remain open, I have heard of cases of moms being fined for taking their kids to a playground. That is truly outrageous.

      Not being a parent, I don’t want into wade into the heated debate about if schools should have been closed and when they should reopen. But I will say, the answer to those questions should hinge on the answer to three other questions:

1.       What is the risk of a child being infected with the CV?

2.       If infected, what is the risk of a child having serious CV consequences?

3.       If infected, what is the risk of a child passing that infection onto his or her parents and grandparents?

      If you are a parent, do some research on these three questions before coming to a conclusion on school closures and reopenings.

4. Racist Virus?

      Much has been made about the African-American community experiencing a disproportionately higher percentage of serious CV consequences than whites. Many are attributing this to racism. But it really goes back to my discussion about people who are overweight, have hypertension, and/ or diabetes being at greater risk of serious CV consequences. The rates of such are higher among blacks than among whites.

      Many are also trying to attribute that to racism. But it is really due to one reason—the high rate of absentee fathers in the black community. Over 70% of black children are raised in single-parent households, with that single parent almost always being the mother.

      I document these facts in Volume Two of my God’s Sex Plan set. I then state this one fact is the reason for most all of the problems seen in the black community, including this higher rate of lifestyle-related health problems. I explain the connection in that book. That section expands upon a similar discussion in my book Creationist Diet: Second Edition.

5. Hydroxychloroquine Revisited:

      I mentioned previously that a recent trial showed hydroxychloroquine was not effective against the CV. The race is now one to find an antiviral that does work. And the drug company that finds that antiviral looks to make billions of dollars. The same goes for the company that first discovers a vaccine. That makes me wonder about the quickness in which hydroxychloroquine is being dismissed.

      Hydroxychloroquine has been around for decades, so it is no longer patented. As such, any drug company can produce a generic version of it. That means, it is very inexpensive. I have heard a two-week course of treatment, which is all that is needed to treat a COVID-10 infection, costs all of $20. However, a new patented antiviral could cost hundreds of dollars for a course of treatment. Could that be the impetus behind the quick dismal of hydroxychloroquine? I am not a conspiracy theorist, but money factors cannot be dismissed when it comes to recommended treatments in the midst of this outbreak.

6. Infected/ Re-infected:

      An operating assumption throughout my writings is that once a person is infected with the CV and then recovers, he or she cannot be infected again. That is the basis for the concept of herd immunity. The reason for that assumption is that is how viruses always work. Once you get the measles, you cannot get them again. Once you get chicken pox, you cannot get it again.

      This assumption is also the basis of vaccinations. If rather than getting infected with measles or chicken pox, you get a vaccination for those diseases, you cannot be infected by them. The seasonal flu, however, mutates each year. That is why a new flu shot is needed each year.

      However, that assumption has been called into question of late. I have heard many times recently on the news that the idea that once you get infected with the CV you cannot get infected again “has not been proven.” But it also has not been disproven. Given the universal previous experience with viruses, I would think the burden of proof would be upon those looking to disprove the idea to prove that idea. Moreover, I find it rather incredulous that after months of dealing with this virus, this question has not yet been settled.

      Be that as it may, let’s say that a person can be re-infected, what does that mean? Will we have to keep all of the shutdown orders, social distancing, and self-isolation orders in place and live in fear indefinitely? Hardly. As I will document shortly, that is not at all possible. It would lead to economic and mental health disasters.

      If that is the case, it means what I have been saying all along will become even more vital. Simply put, if the CV becomes a permanent part of our society, with infections and re-infections common, then the only defense against it will be a healthy population. As such, all of my talk about healthy eating and exercise, and the need for gyms, parks, beaches, garden shops, and playgrounds to reopen, will become even more true and vital.

7. Homemade Masks:

      Back on April 16, 2020, when Tom Wolf, the governor my state of PA, issued a mandate that all PA residents had to wear masks when in public, I asked, “since real medical grade masks are in short supply, is there any evidence homemade masks even work?” I have yet to get a solid answer to this question. However, back on February 17, Dr., Fauci said the following:

      “The only people who need masks are those who are already infected to keep from exposing others. The masks sold at drugstores aren’t even good enough to truly protect anyone,” Fauci said. “If you look at the masks that you buy in a drug store, the leakage around that doesn’t really do much to protect you,” he said (USA Today).

      If drugstore masks “aren’t even good enough to truly protect anyone” then why would the authorities think homemade masks would be any better? If anything, they would probably be even less effective. The only evidence I could find was one study that found even the best homemade masks are one-third as effective as surgical masks (Research). As such, these masks wearing mandates make no sense.

     There is no scientific evidence that wearing face coverings would have a measurable impact on flattening the coronavirus curve. And whether it would have any impact at all is still up for debate... And the eyes — an important pathway for the virus to infect a person — remain exposed even though the mouth and nose are covered (NBC News).

      Further, as I wrote back on April 16, “I had no problems with the recommendation to wear a mask. But I do have a problem with it becoming a requirement.” There is a big difference between the two, as I will discuss in a moment.

    But first, I have also heard beards reduce the effectiveness of a mask.  If Gov. Wolf tries to issue a mandate that all men must be clean-shaven, he can forget that. I have not shaved my beard in over 35 years, and there is no way I am going to do so now. And that leads to the next point.

8. Recommendations vs. Mandates:

      I have been cautious in my language throughout this four-part article as to if people “should” or “must” do something. People “should” eat a healthy diet, but I would be absolutely opposed to the government saying they “must” eat one.

      In other words, most of my recommendations are just that, recommendations. They should not be government enforced mandates. People should take some personal responsibility. That is what this country was founded upon. Not the government forcing us to live like it thinks we should. Social shaming will be sufficient for the rare person who does not do so. And with my plan, the main person such a person will be hurting is himself.

      The only exceptions are in regard to nursing homes and hospitals. They are exceptions as the residents and patients, respectively, by their checking into such a facility have recognized they cannot take care of themselves. As such, it is mandatory for the facility to look out for them. And that is where the government has a place in ensuring that happens. But for everyone else, personal reasonability, not government mandates should rule the day.

9. Compact Clause of the US Constitution:

      No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay (Article I; Section 10 of the US Constitution).

      My home state of PA has entered in a compact with seven states to the east of us. Ohio has entered in a compact with the seven states to the west of it. The three west coast states have entered into a compact together.

      These compacts are agreements to open up in similar fashions and along similar timetables. But that defies what I said before about NYC being far different from the rest of the country. The same is also true state to state. Each state is different. But the governors fear that if one state in a region opens up before a neighboring state, the residents of the non-open state will flood into the open state, get infected, then bring the virus back to the still closed state.

      However, that fear is based on the perspective of trying to keep everyone from getting infected. It does not take into account that those who will travel from state to state are going to primarily be the fit and healthy, the very people who are at little risk of adverse CV consequences, but who, by getting infected, will contribute to herd immunity in their state.

      But most of all, these compacts are a breaking of the above clause of the US Constitution. But no one seems to care about that issue. That leads to my last random thought.

10. The Constitution and Freedom:

Amendment I (1791) Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances (US Constitution).

      This first of the Amendments found in the Bill of Rights has been ignored in droves by all levels of the government, and few have objected. This disregard for the Constitution the freedoms it guarantees is the most disturbing trend amidst this crisis. Too many have accepted this loss of God-given freedoms too easily. That might the worst long-term consequences of this crisis.

      This four-part article is concluded at: My Multi-Group Plan for Overcoming the Coronavirus Crisis (Plus Additional Coronavirus Information and an Overview of the Crisis) – Part Four.

Creationist Diet
Second Edition
A Comprehensive Guide to Bible and Science Based Nutrition 

References:

      See My Multi-Group Plan for Overcoming the Coronavirus Crisis: References.

My Multi-Group Plan for Overcoming the Coronavirus Crisis (Plus Additional Coronavirus Information and an Overview of the Crisis) Part Three. Copyright © 2020 by Gary F. Zeolla (www.Zeolla.org).

The above article was posted on this website May 2, 2020.

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