Corona Madness--Where's the Data?
SHOW ME THE DATA, PLEASE!
Where's the data? Where are all the scary numbers our governor can point to in order to justify the complete shut down of the state of Illinois? Where are his advisers getting their numbers?
Just a short survey of the influenza reports from The City of Chicago, The Cook County Health Department and The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has convinced me that we should have battened down the hatches in 2018, when influenza cases were flooding the ICUs in Illinois at 4 times the rate of this year! Although Cook County has failed to issue a report since the end of February, the IDPH and the City of Chicago have reports from March that show the peak of the flu season hit in February when everyone I know including myself were down with the flu. Even then, the numbers of serious cases were paltry compared to 2018. According to the IDPH, Week 1 in 2020 saw 54 Illinoisans admitted to the ICU for flu, while in 2018 during Week 1, 218 people in Illinois went to ICUs for the flu. In Week 2 this year, there were 85, but 175 were admitted to the ICU in 2018 and it goes on. Week 5 was the highest this year with 111 Illinoisans finding themselves in the ICU with the flu and what do you know, the exact same number were admitted to the ICU in 2018 during Week 5. If our ICU facilities are really being overwhelmed. Show me the data!
Another thing that troubles me. Why are the media and health officials all of a sudden focusing on individuals so much? I hate to say it, but all these influenza reports I've seen don't bother giving the number of deaths associated with pneumonia or flu. They give percentages of those deaths compared to all deaths each week in the health district. The reports rarely state any individual number of people. In 2018, Weeks 2 through 7, all the way from January 7 to February 17, the percentage of deaths from pneumonia or influenza associated illness in Cook County was stated as above epidemic levels with the highest 2 weeks showing just under 10% of deaths were associated with pneumonia or influenza. That means 1 in 10 or 10 in every 100 people were dying of a flu-like illness in 2018. This year? The flu was considered epidemic proportions of deaths only in Weeks 3 & 5: January 12-18 and January 26-February 1st. In those weeks, the number of people who died of pneumonia or influenza associated illnesses was just under 8% of total deaths for the week or 8 out of 100. But the media puts a face to all those names as if this is very unusual and completely outpacing the numbers of people dying of heart attack, stroke, cancers, and many other causes.
Since March, the number of cases of flu like illnesses entering the ICU has gone down in the City of Chicago and in the State of Illinois data. In fact, The last 2 Flu Updates from The City of Chicago have stated that the flu is decreasing but elevated. ICU intakes for flu went from 27 two weeks ago to 8 last week. Are health officials waiting until not one person goes to the ICU for flu related illness?
I can tell you really scary numbers. According to a Yale study, unemployment causes a 6% higher risk of death in the next year from cardio-vascular disease, suicide, and other stress-related killers. A 1% rise in unemployment means at least 4,000 more deaths and we are facing over a 30% rise in unemployment. These deaths will not be of the elderly or those with underlying health conditions. These will be able-bodied workers. Are we saying those people are unimportant?
Maybe I missed something, but I don't understand the hysteria. Europe also had a spike in flu deaths both 2 and 3 years ago that was much worse than this year. Yet there was no continental quarantine.
No air time is given to scientists and doctors who are questioning this national quarantine. And the suggestion from President Trump that the "cure" could be worse than the disease was ridiculed. There has to be more to this story because where are the numbers?
As always, don't take my word as gospel. Look at the numbers yourself. They can all be found at the links below.
City of Chicago Flu Updates
https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/cdph/supp_info/health-protection/c...
Cook County Health Department
https://www.cookcountypublichealth.org/data-reports/communicable-disease...
Illinois Dept. of Public Health Flu Surveillance
https://www.dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/diseases-and-conditions/inf...
https://flunewseurope.org/Archives
The impact of unemployment on heart disease and stroke mortality in European Union countries
https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738&langId=en&pubId=7909&furt...
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