A Breath of Fresh Air: Spike in COVID-19 ‘Cases’ Doesn’t Warrant Another Shutdown

Those over the age of 65, particularly those in institutional settings, accounting for 80 percent of California Covid-19 fatalities

The idiom, “a breath of fresh air,” literally means an influx of air that is not stale or smelly… which brings to mind the dangers of wearing a mask over your nose and mouth all day.

It also means something that is pleasantly new, different, and refreshing.

While most of the media continues to scare Californians into compliantly wearing masks indoors, outdoors, and everywhere they go, there are many resisters who defy the mask order because they believe in the necessity of “a breath of fresh air” for their health.

Another breath of fresh air is Dr. Marilyn Singleton, MD, JD, a board-certified anesthesiologist, member of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) and a partner of the Job Creators Network Foundation. She wrote an op ed for the Press-Telegram and sorted through the noise and disinformation to find data and facts to call for keeping California open while making sure the elderly remain careful and cautious.

“Despite the rise in cases, Covid-19 patients fill only 8 percent of the available hospital beds,” Singleton said. “The trend in testing data show that early on, 14 percent of those tested for the virus were positive, but as more people (including the asymptomatic) are tested, this percentage has hovered between eight and nine percent since early June.”

“The virus is also a lot less deadly than previously thought. According to revised CDC estimates, the coronavirus mortality rate is 0.4 percent—which is considerably less than the 3.4 percent death rate that was initially reported by the World Health Organization. Again, as testing increases, the mortality rate decreases,” Dr. Singleton said.

California Globe also reported last week, “The number of coronavirus deaths per day has continued to fall in June even as the number of cases has increased due to ramped up testing. ‘Cases’ only mean those who test positive for the virus. It does not necessarily translate into hospitalizations or deaths. Most people are asymptomatic.”

We know that Covid-19 impacts those over the age of 65, and even higher percentages over 85, particularly those in nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities. Singleton says this age group accounts for 80 percent of California Covid-19 fatalities.

The economic effects of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s lockdown have been devastating. The state unemployment rate has hit 15.5%, with more than 5 million Californians filing for unemployment benefits.

Demographer Joel Kotkin reports, “In the pandemic, as everywhere, California’s low-end restaurant and retail workers have been hard hit, but California is particularly ex­posed to threats to the hospitality, food service, performing arts, sports, and casino sectors.”

Restaurants in California were already hurting before the governor’s statewide shutdown; more than 10% of full service restaurants in California closed down due to the higher minimum wage. And higher prices turned people away.

Kotkin notes that while “California has outperformed the rest of the country in overall employment growth over the past decade, most of the new jobs pay poorly. Overall, the state has created five times as many low-wage as high-wage jobs.”

California Globe has reported that most of the job growth in the state has been service jobs, and not high-paying manufacturing jobs. California is also estimated to lose up 400,000 jobs by 2022 due to an ever increasing minimum wage.

“Kaiser Family Foundation survey in late May found that 39 percent of adults “feel that worry and stress related to” COVID-19 has had a negative impact on their mental health and about half have deferred seeking medical care,” Dr. Singleton said. “Some 80,000 diagnoses of five common cancers may be missed or delayed by early June because of disruptions to health care caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CDC also attributes to COVID-19 up to 39 percent excess deaths from delayed treatment for renal failure, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer disease and dementia, to name a few.”

Dr. Singleton says “It’s clear that older Americans and those with pre-existing medical conditions are the most susceptible to the virus. These groups can continue to be more cautious and protected, while the vast majority of Californians get on with their lives.”

“We have become accustomed to shifting information from our leaders,” Singleton added. “We must urge Gov. Newsom to continue the reopening process. An increase in known coronavirus cases is no reason to reverse course.”