Give me liberty or give me coronavirus death

Not sure if that’s what Patrick Henry actually meant at the Second Virginia Convention back in 1775. Unfortunately thanks to President Trump, Fox News and right-wing radio, the coronavirus pandemic has become political. Just look at Trump’s tweets, “Liberate Michigan!” It’s now become the left vs. the right. The masked vs. no masks. Shelter in place vs. open the country back up again. And of course, this has now created the unholy alliance of right-wing fanatics together with NRA automatic weapons-toting-in-public protesters and the anti-vaxxers. I got a theory: the bigger the gun in public, the smaller the gun in private.

I don’t wear a mask in public to make some political statement. It’s uncomfortable, especially wearing glasses. It’s damn hard to drink my coffee with a mask on. How do I go to a restaurant and enjoy my meal while wearing a mask? No, I wear a mask out of respect for you and your family’s health. While I don’t think I have coronavirus, I may be an asymptomatic carrier. We should all act as if. Get over “my constitutional rights!” crap. Show me where in the constitution it says we have to wear seat belts while driving? They’re called laws and the federal, state, county and local municipalities can make their own laws. So if our Humboldt County health officer says we have to wear masks in public, wear them!

I hear both sides of this argument. “Only 72 Humboldt County residents have gotten the coronavirus. And the majority of those were the people that just had to travel back in March during a global pandemic and the senior care homes. Take those two groups out of the equation and our numbers are small. We’ve had zero deaths from coronavirus. So why the hell did we shut Humboldt County down? We’re a rural society. We’re not L.A. or the Bay Area. How many people have died of heart attacks? Cancer? Obesity? Car crashes” So far, that’s all correct. We’ve only had one coronavirus case per 1,870 people. I like to think that’s because of the job our Humboldt County health officer and sheriff did in shutting down non-essential businesses, shelter in place order, social distancing, washing our hands eight times per day, wearing masks in public, etc. We’ve flattened the curve here in Humboldt County while Los Angeles County has 25% of our state’s population, yet almost 50% of the cases and over half of California’s deaths.

Since March 15 when we had only 3,501 confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States, we’ve gone to almost 1.5 million in just two months! By the end of May, we’ll have over 100,000 U.S. coronavirus deaths, almost 33% of the world’s deaths with only just over 4% of the world’s population. Google or Bing “coronavirus update.” We’re still adding 20,000-30,000 confirmed coronavirus cases daily in this country. Multiply that by 30 days and that’s another 600,000-900,000 cases by next month. Oh, did I mention the mortality rate is still running at almost 6%. That means in the next month, another 36,000-45,000 Americans will die. This is on top of heart attacks, cancer, obesity and car crashes.

Contrary to what Fox News is telling you, we didn’t “lock the country down.” Most states flattened the curve by putting pandemic practices and policies in place. You can still go out for a walk, jog, bike ride, play tennis or golf, go shopping, buy restaurant food, although take-out or delivery only. You can walk our beaches and parks, just not sit and congregate. We don’t have the military and National Guard on our streets enforcing a lockdown, like other countries. You still have your rights and you can still own guns (or an arsenal).

The reality is without a vaccine, you’re playing Russian roulette with your life. I prefer to play with zero bullets in the chamber. You can put as many bullets in your lifestyle chamber as you want. Don’t wear a mask in public, put another bullet in the chamber. Attend a crowded church, put another bullet in the chamber. Go to a packed restaurant or bar, put another bullet in the chamber. Protest in front of the courthouse standing shoulder-to-shoulder with others, not wearing masks, shouting at the top of your lungs, put another bullet in the chamber. We all have personal choices to make in life and I choose to be alive through November.