Please just listen to Dr. Fauci

So at 4:32PM CDT 2 September 2020 the numbers from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us for U.S. coronavirus cases & deaths are:

Confirmed Cases: 6,293,308
Deaths: 189,859
Recovered: 3,534,977

Now, if you divide Deaths by the sum of (Deaths + Recovered) you get
(189,859)/(3,724,836) = 0.0509
which is a 5.1% death rate. Not too bad, you say?
(BTW, the world death rate is just about 5% using numbers from the same source above. Also, we use (Deaths+Recovered) because we don't know the outcome of the rest of the positive cases yet. If we used Deaths/Confirmed Cases as Johns Hopkins University uses (see https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality) then the death rate (what JHU calls the fatality ratio) is about 3%. This is still 15 times the fatality ratio of seasonal influenza.)

Let us look at the same numbers for the seasonal influenza virus. Many people (Mr. Trump included) have said that the novel coronavirus is no worse than the flu, so let's look.

From the official CDC web site at:
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2018-2019.html
(I used last flu season's data because all those numbers are complete and don't include any COVID-19 numbers.)

The case numbers and deaths from influenza are:
"CDC estimates that influenza was associated with more than 35.5 million illnesses, more than 16.5 million medical visits, 490,600 hospitalizations, and 34,200 deaths during the 2018–2019 influenza season. This burden was similar to the estimated burden during the 2012–2013 influenza season"

Unfortunately, the CDC doesn't tell us the Recovered cases, so we'll just use the medical visits as our denominator. So if you divide 34,200 deaths by 16.5 million medical visits you get
(34,200)/(16,500,000) = 0.00207
and rounding up, about 0.002
which is a death rate of 0.2%

So the COVID-19 death rate is about 25 TIMES the death rate of the seasonal influenza virus, at least in the United States. And we already have a vaccine for the influenza virus that millions of people take every year.

However, this doesn't say anything about how contagious COVID-19 is compared to the seasonal influenza virus. So lets look at that as well.

Here's a comparison of the novel coronavirus and the seasonal influenza virus from Johns Hopkins University. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-disease-2019-vs-the-flu

With respect to which virus is more contagious, here's what the CDC says
"While COVID-19 and flu viruses are thought to spread in similar ways, COVID-19 is more contagious among certain populations and age groups than flu. Also, COVID-19 has been observed to have more superspreading events than flu. This means the virus that causes COVID-19 can quickly and easily spread to a lot of people and result in continuous spreading among people as time progresses."
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/symptoms/flu-vs-covid19.htm

So, yeah, don't wear that mask. You'll be fine.

But maybe you should wear that mask - SO YOU DON'T KILL ANYONE ELSE, like your parents, your child's teacher, your neighbor, the checker at the grocery store, your spouse.

Look, I know that masks are uncomfortable. I don't like wearing a mask whenever I'm out of the house either. I don't like social distancing. I don't like not being comfortable going to restaurants or movies, or the theatre. But think about it this way; you're not wearing the mask so that YOU don't get sick, you're wearing the mask so that OTHER PEOPLE don't get sick. Until we have a vaccine the only way to stop this virus outbreak is to STOP THE SPREAD and the best way to do that on an individual level is to wear masks in public.

So please, listen to Dr. Fauci and wear the damn mask.

One last thing; for a very good and readable article on the "5 Things Everyone Should Know about the Coronavirus Outbreak" take a look at https://www.yalemedicine.org/stories/2019-novel-coronavirus/

A Few Observations on Venturing Out During the Pandemic - 4 months in...

Observations today on coronavirus/quarantine/masks/venturing out into the world in Galesburg, IL.

BEWARE! I did my daily walk earlier today. Usually, I pass half a dozen or so people in my walk around the neighborhood; we stay on opposite sides of the street. Most don't wear masks - I don't wear one while I'm walking, but I've got it with me - but we don't get anywhere near each other. Today, though, I saw (1) a group of four older folks (at least as old as I am), 3 women and a man, walking together in a compact group, no masks, and no social distancing. Yes, they may all be living together, but... (2) Later I was passed by a group of five bicyclists, all adults, no helmets, no masks, all riding pretty close together so no social distancing there either.

So apparently this loosening up in Illinois is getting a bit out of hand.

MEDIUM GOOD NEWS: We also went to Hy-Vee on Henderson this morning during "senior hour". Many folks there still can't figure out the one-way arrows for the aisles. Nearly everyone in masks; I just noticed one person without one. This time all the employees were wearing them - and correctly (like covering their noses!). Folks were trying to social distance; the dots on the floor near the cash registers are terrific and people seem to adhere to them. Hy-Vee seems to be pretty much done with their wholesale "let's move every item to a different aisle" mania of the last few weeks, so that may have helped. There were still a remarkable number of gaps in the shelves where they are out of certain items. Luckily, we were able to get everything we needed.

GOOD NEWS: In the last two days I've had two appointments (don't ask, but it's OK) at the Illinois Eye Center in Peoria. Here are their criteria: (1) just the person with the appointment is allowed in the building (so Diane had to sit in the car), (2) temperature checks at the door, (3) all the employees in masks, (4) plexiglass shields at the check-in/check-out desks, (5) clearly marked social distancing signs and floor thingees, (6) all patients in masks, (7) hand sanitizer available in the halls and in every examination room, (8) folks following you through examination rooms wiping stuff down as you leave. I felt very confident and safe. 

Stay healthy, everyone!