James Osborne Novels

All of us have the right to be heard. Whether we agree with them or not, these include anti-maskers and other conspiracy theorists. Prominent among their arguments is this: “What’s the big deal, after all only 1% of patients die from Covid?” 

A nurse that I know is among those front-line workers who are battling desperately day after exhausting day to save the lives of Covid-19 patients. She passed along the statistics below, based on that 1% mortality rate. They’re sobering. In this case the death rate is applied to Canada. For a US comparison, multiply the numbers by 8.75 (to ease the math use 10). Here goes:

Canada has a population of 37,742,154. If one percent of the population dies, that’s 377,422 people dead. Mercifully that’s not happened … yet. Three hundred and seventy-seven thousand people dead would bring excruciating grief to tens of thousands and throw a monkey wrench into the economy. 

What follows is equally sobering. For every person who has died of Covid so far:

• 19 more were hospitalized
• 18 of those 19 have permanent heart damage for the rest of their lives
• 10 have permanent lung damage
• 3 will have strokes
• 2 have neurological damage leaving them with chronic weakness and loss of coordination
• 2 have neurological damage resulting in reduced cognitive function

So now that 1% becomes:

• 7,171,009 hospitalized
• 377,422 dead
• 6,793,588 people with permanent heart damage
• 3,774,215 people with permanent lung damage
• 1,132,265 people with strokes
• 754,843 people with muscle weakness
• 754,843 people with loss of cognitive function

So please, until the vaccine can improve things:

– wear your mask (OVER your nose and mouth please)

– wash/disinfect your hands regularly

– stay two meters (six feet) apart.