We have worked to understand as best we can the coronavirus. There are a lot of aspects to it: the health and safety of our family and friends, public health considerations, economic and investment effects. All this, while sorting through information and misinformation of varying quality.

Which of these are true?

“Most people experience negligible symptoms, or those of a typical case of the flu” or “The virus can cause rapid respiratory failure and death”?

“People who have no other health problems and are below age 60 have little risk” or “It is important for everyone to do what they can to slow the spread of the virus”?

“The experience of other countries should comfort us” or “The experience of other countries should concern us”?

Get your mind wide open, because all of these things contain some truth. Those who are below age 60 and healthy will likely only get mild symptoms with a low risk of death. But healthy people can spread it to at-risk people.

Do you have an elderly neighbor? A young cousin with asthma? Relatives with diabetes or cardiac disease? Are you around people that have organ transplants? Or being treated for cancer? No matter what course the virus takes in the weeks and months ahead, some people with those conditions are probably going to be struggling to stay alive. Not all will survive.

To protect ourselves and others, it makes sense to do what we can to slow the rate of infection. If cases spike up rapidly, hospitals will be overwhlemed, with catastrophic effects on care. (This happened in parts of Italy.) If the rate of infection is more moderate, health facilities have a better chance to stay ahead of the curve. It makes a difference on the death rate.

The experts call this moderating effect of slower infection rates “flattening the curve.” It’s a good thing.

The extremes are not where we want to be: the virus is not going to kill us all, but neither is it a big hoax. Clients, if you would like to talk about this or anything else, please email or call.