Corona

Coronarambling

Man, there's so much "news" out there about Coronavirus. As most of you know, I put very little faith in the news, but as my loved ones know, I'm hopelessly self-centered and freak out at things like epidemics. At times like these, mine is a tough balance.

But this morning I came across an interview on The Drew Mariani Show at Relevant Radio. I trust Mariani. I can't say for sure why I trust him, other than that he's obviously a devout Catholic on a devout radio network, but I trust him.

His guest said there are three reasons why people are legitimately concerned about the Coronavirus:

1. The mortality rate: 3%+. Slightly higher than the Spanish Flu, which killed.
2. It's a new virus, so there is no immunity to it.
3. It's highly contagious.

Even though the Left is politicking this thing, and I have little doubt Big Business will use this as a way to get more laws passed that benefit their bottom line, and DC will use it as a way to promote bigger government ("never let a good crisis go to waste"), it is legitimate.

A friend told me this weekend that the Coronavirus mortality rate is less than an ordinary flu. That appears to be grossly inaccurate. The average flu kills .1%, meaning the Coronavirus is 30 times more deadly.

I'd also add that it appears to take five days for symptoms to appear, which I find particularly discomforting. "Hey, I feel fine, so let's shake hands!" or "Let me put my face three inches from yours while we talk."

Related: Anheuser-Busch's marketers' efforts are paying off. They've apparently convinced a large number of media outlets to call it "COVID-19." Yeah, I know: COVID-19 is more accurate. Actually, I have no idea whether it's more accurate, but I have little doubt the folks at Anheuser-Busch made a plausible argument that COVID-19 is more accurate and convinced their friends at media outlets, where AB spends enormous amounts of money in advertising, to start using it.

I don't blame 'em, btw. It's just good to notice things like that in the news. It belies the news' alleged objectivity.