Courtesy of the Bastrop Advertiser
April 21, 2020
By Bill McCann
I’ve always been skeptical of TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz. My suspicions were confirmed last week when he suggested that reopening schools – and endangering our nation’s kids amid the COVID-19 pandemic – was an “appetizing opportunity.”
In an appearance on Fox News, Dr. Oz, a medical doctor sometimes criticized for offering nonscientific advice, said he read a medical journal article showing that reopening schools may only cost 2 percent to 3 percent mortality from COVID-19.
“You know, that’s – any life is a life lost, but to get every child back into a school where they’re safely being educated, being fed, and making the most out of their lives, with the theoretical risk on the backside, it might be a trade-off some folks would consider.”
With about 57 million kids in elementary, middle and high schools in the United States, the tradeoff therefore would mean the potential deaths of 1.1 million to 1.7 million of them. Dr. Oz, are you nuts? Is that something we would seriously consider?
COVID-19 has brought out the best and worst of us.
Among the best are the health-care workers, first responders, food service employees, postal workers, truck drivers, and others taking risks daily to serve their fellow Americans. Doctors and nurses have died from COVID-19, while others recovered and returned to work. They are all heroes.
I also count among the heroes Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases. Dr. Fauci probably has saved thousands of lives by standing up to President Donald Trump and his administration’s boneheads by holding fast in urging people to stay home and in calling for caution in reopening commerce.
I’ll never forget the video of Fauci covering his face with his hands while Trump told whoppers at one of his daily news briefings. Credit Fauci for hanging in there as a consistent voice of reason.
Then there are politicos and pundits like Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and former Fox host Bill O’Reilly, who have joined the chorus of hypocritical far right-to-lifers willing to risk lives by reopening the country in the middle of a pandemic. No one wants a broken economy. We can bring the economy back to life, but we can’t bring people back.
Patrick said on Fox News recently that he – and likely other grandparents – would risk survival to preserve the nation’s economic system for the grandkids. I say go for it, Dan. O’Reilly said in a radio interview that many people who died of the virus “were on their last legs anyway.” The comment was particularly mean because the virus has killed thousands of nursing home residents.
Not to be outdone, Trump has continued to use virus news briefings to defend his inept handling of the crisis and to find scapegoats for his failed leadership, most recently the World Health Organization. Last week Trump bragged repeatedly that U.S. testing for the virus was the best in the world, while ignoring the fact that less than 2 percent of the population had been tested.
How can we reopen the country when serious questions remain due to inadequate testing?
Last week, right-wing protesters demonstrated in several cities around the country, including Austin, against stay-at-home orders issued by governors to contain the virus and keep people safe. Trump tweeted his support for protesters. The tweets came after he said it was up to governors to decide when to reopen commerce.
One eerie photo caught protesters staring zombielike through a statehouse window in Columbus, Ohio. Other photos showed protesters demonstrating at the Capitol in Lansing, Mich. Some carried weapons. Others carried pro-Trump signs and Confederate flags. I hope they didn’t take the virus home with them.
