The media and the Democrats have hyped the danger of COVID to frighten the population into passivity to great success. COVID is much more infectious than sessional flus but it is not more deadly and that is the fact that they are hiding from you so they can control you. Do your own research. All the numbers are available. If you are over 80 and/or have comorbidities, you need to be concerned. If you are young and healthy, not so much. If you are young and healthy, you are much more likely to die of a seasonal flu. Does that mean that you should never leave your house during flu season? If we'd done practical things in the past like emphasizing hand-washing and social distancing during flu season, that would probably have saved a lot of lives every year and so we should actually emphasize this practice going forward but locking down a society because the politicians want to stop ALL infections is simply insane. It is very much like banning automobiles to stop people from dying in car accidents. We already know that the infection spreads primarily INSIDE and among family groups. Outside, in the sunshine, stay upwind of people to be safe
You also need to wonder why no one dies of flu anymore? People who die of any respiratory illness, die of COVID because the hospitals get paid more. Some of the states have started fixing this but not all.
The current objective to NEVER allow anyone new to get infected is simply dumb. It is completely irrational. You can't stop COVID infections totally and you can't stop flu infections totally. We think the new vaccine is going to be very effective but we have no history to prove this. We'll just have to wait 8-10 years to see the long term effects of the vaccine. We know that the annual flu shot is only 30-40% effective. It's the drug company's guess as to which strain will be prevalent for any given season. Some years they guess better than others. Does that mean you shouldn't take the flu shot? No. It really depends on your health. and whether the risk of the vaccine which is only marginally effective is less than getting the flu. Given the death rate from COVID for the elderly with comorbidities, i think it would be crazy to pass on the vaccine unless you know you've suffered adverse reactions in the past to vaccines.
What does stop the spread of a virus is herd immunity. The left poo-poo'd this because Trump suggested it. If Trump suggested it, we must unite and fight the Orangeman at all costs. Orangeman evil!!!!. Trump recommended hydroxychloroquine for early treatment and possibly as a prophylactic and the media "experts" went to the mattresses and so the governors banned it. How many people died because of that stupid decision??? There are stats on that also. Look for the comparisons between countries that treated early symptoms with hydroxychloroquine and those, like the US banned its use. If the disease is not severe for most people, then the best solution is to allow as many healthy people to become infected as possible. So instead of shutting down, we should be opening up. And schools should never have been shut down. That was the work of the evil Teacher's Union who refused to put the children first. The demands they made in California back in the spring are simply sickening. I would ban the Teacher's Union if possible. That's how bad they are. They are all about themselves and your children simply do not matter. Protect the ones who actually are in danger and vaccinate them as soon as a vaccine becomes available. Instead we vaccinate members of Congress first because they are "important". This is the sick culture we are living in.
Regarding masks. Please read the box. You will find that there is no mask on the market that claims to block virus'. Even the most effective, disposable N95 (which most people can't bear to wear for any length of time) are only marginally effective. The masks stop large particles, fluids and smoke but virus' pass right through. If you do any research, try to compare the pre-COVID expert advice to the politicalized advice we get today. It's getting harder and harder to find because Google is blocking it.
For years we've been weakening our immune systems with the over-use of bacterial soap. Just JYI, bacterial soap doesn't kill virus'.
https://www.thestate.com/news/nation-world/national/article241225781.html
The problem with using anti-bacterial soap for everything is the same as taking antibiotics for infections that no one has tested to confirm that they are caused by bacteria. At some point, your life or that of a loved one might depend on being treated with an effective antibiotic and due to over exposure to antibiotics, many have become super-bugs and not affected by antibiotics.