There are many in our community that have bought into the misinformation surrounding Covid. That’s a given – its who America is now. But, more recently we are seeing a trend among some people in our community, I’ll call them the liberal elite – wealthy, well educated liberals – who are starting to use the same lines as those that have bought into the misinformation. Lines like “Its just like the flu” or “its less dangerous” are lines we’re hearing more regularly from school board members to friends. These statements are resulting in more risky behavior. While those that are vaccinated and boosted are at less risk of severe Covid (even moderate Covid does not sound pleasant), many in our community remain in danger, due either to their medical situation or willful ignorance.

I pulled the numbers from the CDC from the before-times (2017) for the most likely causes of death in Pennsylvania.

Here’s a few more causes of death that the CDC breaks out that are often discussed at length in the press.

In PA you are twice as likely to die from a firearm than you are a homicide. Let’s look at the current Covid deaths.

We had about 70 deaths/day from Covid during the fall, which would make it the third leading cause of death. More recently in December, its risen to around a hundred per day, making it the most likely cause of death in the state. While its looking more likely that Omicron is less severe and promising treatments are coming in the new year, right now deaths are continuing to rise.

Would you go around saying cancer isn’t that dangerous? That we should stop restricting carcinogens and allow children to smoke? Should we legalize heroin and cocaine and sell them at Walmart? Ban seatbelts and eliminate speed limits? Because all of those are currently killing fewer people than Covid. Stop downplaying the risks. Take proper precautions over the holidays – vaccination, masking and testing.