ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Terror has its limits. As the new Delta version of COVID-19 threatens population centers, there are signs that reservoirs of fear are nearing empty. Where they were once met with anxious cooperation, officialdom’s pandemic diktats are now encountering mounting resistance. Growing numbers are opting to conquer their virus terror and get on with their lives. Fortunately, the data on the danger posed by the variant support their choice.
Comparing the coronavirus trendlines of 2020 to the current ones, it is clear the pestilence is losing its lethality in the United States. During a sharply contagious 14-day period between Dec. 26 and Jan. 9, according to data compiled by the New York Times, the number of daily cases reported across the nation climbed from 216,861 to 251,919 – an increase of 16 percent. Similarly, daily hospitalizations rose 10 percent – from 123,746 to 135,771. The most heartbreaking spike was in the daily death toll, which skyrocketed from 1,646 to 3,259, or 98 percent.
By contrast, the Delta variant has proved to be extremely infectious but hardly as deadly. Between July 19 and Aug. 2, the number of new cases surged from 59,191 to 135,811 – a jarring increase of 129 percent. Hospitalizations escalated at an even faster rate – from 19,776 to 49,498, or 150 percent. Coronavirus daily deaths during the period, though, only rose 12 percent, to 454. Cancer, in comparison, claims about 1,670 per day, but Americans don’t cower behind closed doors.
With Delta death decoupled from the caseload, many Americans are beginning to sense the time has arrived to bury their fears and return to normal life. Sadly, President Joe Biden isn’t among them. Americans should, “in all probability,” he says, be ready for more coronavirus restrictions.
The president is joined by legions of like-minded authoritarians ready with a fresh set of life-altering decrees. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is once again requiring representatives to cover up before entering the House chamber. New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio has ordered the city’s restaurant and gym patrons to show proof of vaccination before entering. And workers across the country are being forced to choose between the jab and their job, as government agencies and major corporations are requiring inoculation, or else.
All this despite more than 90 percent of Americans over 65 and 70 percent of those 18 and older vaccinated with at least one dose, and an effective death rate of infected children untouched by comorbidities of zero.
As COVID-19 dissipates, those with health vulnerabilities should rely on their doctor, not Uncle Sam, for vaccine and face mask guidance. The young and robust should feel free to choose their own pathway to healthy living.
Putting the pandemic in perspective, the craze of random gun violence sweeping the nation’s cities suggests residents have as much to fear from spraying bullets as spreading germs. If Mr. Biden wants to save lives, perhaps he should recommend Americans swap their face masks for body armor.
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