Don’t believe deniers; their ‘hoax’ is deadly

OPINION Guest writer

At first it was surreal. Now, it’s frustrating. My parents died of covid-19. Thirty hours apart, allowed in their final days to share a hospital room in Topeka, Kan., my mom and dad died from a disease ravaging the world.

I was 293 miles away, at my kitchen table in Fayetteville. I watched my parents take their last breaths on my computer screen.

As if losing my mom and dad to this brutal virus hasn’t been enough, my family must now deal with the “doubters” — people who insist this pandemic is mostly a big hoax.

Their latest talking points arise from Centers for Disease Control’s data showing only 6% of deaths are solely due to covid-19, leaving 94% that have other factors also listed on death certificates.

“See, I told you it was all a hoax; 185,000 people haven’t died of covid,” the doubters say. “It’s only 11,000 or so.”

It seems they’re thinking, “Aha! Gotcha, you suckers who think this pandemic is real. We now have proof it’s not!”

One Facebook opinionator, speaking of my parents, said, “Pretty sure they died WITH the Kung flu and not FROM the Kung flu.” Vitriol is alive and well in covid-land.

I tell myself to ignore the deniers. They aren’t worth the energy. But my fellow Arkansans and Americans are worth the energy. The more folks deny covid-19 is real, the more people will get sick and possibly die. I don’t want anyone living through the horror this virus can bring.

I know way more about covid-19 than I ever wanted. After 16 days of talking to physicians and nurses about the conditions of my parents, medical terms can now roll off my tongue. Bipap machines, oxygen saturation rates, high-flow and low-flow oxygen, liters of oxygen — when you have a loved one diagnosed with the virus, you get a crash course. In my case, it was from afar.

I know the deniers are wrong to claim only 11,000 people nationwide, around 50 Arkansans, have succumbed to the virus.

My dad, 82, was admitted to the hospital after falling. We now know he passed out because the virus we were unaware he had affected his lungs quickly and his oxygen rate plummeted, making him lightheaded. At the E.R., he was given a routine covid-19 test because he had a fever. Within a few short hours, sepsis (a severe infection) was ravaging his body. Doctors were confused trying to figure out the source of the infection. Fast forward a few more hours and we had our answer. We knew what the enemy was. It was covid-19 and it was very, very real.

After 15 days of fighting like hell, my family chose the comfort-care route. We knew Dad had fought long and hard enough. We wanted him to finally have peace. By this point, he had sepsis, pneumonia and went into congestive heart failure. At 2:08 p.m. on June 30, he died. My mother, 80, passed the next day under similar circumstances.

According to the deniers, my dad should not be counted as a covid-19 death. Do you know why? Because on his death certificate it says, “Congestive heart failure, sepsis, and covid-19.” The only deaths the deniers want to count are those that only list covid-19.

This is flawed logic. Covid-19 caused these other health issues such as pneumonia, heart failure and sepsis. Even pre-existing conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol or high blood pressure are no reason a death should not be attributed to covid-19 if you have tested positive for the virus. Most adults in America have some type of pre-existing condition. Many develop other conditions after covid rears its ugly head and attacks the body in unimaginable ways.

It would be no different than having influenza then developing pneumonia in the hospital. The influenza virus causes the pneumonia. By following this latest conspiracy theory of inflated covid deaths, that would mean influenza deaths should not be counted if a death certificate says influenza and pneumonia.

Trust me when I say it’s brutal and excruciating to lose a loved one to covid-19. It’s scary. It’s lonely. It’s heartbreaking. But it’s reality and could happen to you or one of your loved ones, too.

I get it. We’re all frustrated. We’re in the middle of a heated political race and everyone is on edge. People want hope as businesses struggle to stay afloat, students and teachers try to navigate uncharted territory, medical care workers are maxed out, and people work from home. Nothing is “normal” right now. And the worst part is none of us know when it will be again.

But denying covid-19, or manipulating data to fit an agenda, is cruel and it’s flawed. Denial is not the solution.

My reality is I watched my parents die on a laptop. My family played “Amazing Grace” for them as kind nurses held a phone to their ears. Their lives are now statistics. To tell me they didn’t die from covid-19 is factually false, insulting and, quite honestly, painful. If covid-19 was not a factor, my parents likely would be alive today. Those other causes listed on their death certificates would not have existed.

My parents’ lives mattered. They count. I owe it to them to fight and spread awareness.

How I wish this virus was a hoax. Sadly, reality says otherwise.