Denying Covid will not make it go away

Writer: Do the right thing

I was truly shocked to find out how many people there are in Hermanus who insist on downplaying the dangers of the Covid-19 pandemic. Some even flatly deny the threat with ridiculous arguments like: “They put Covid-19 down as the cause of death even when people die of other conditions” and “Most of these cases are not Covid at all, they are just the normal flu” or “They are just making up the numbers to frighten and intimidate us”.

Who exactly “they” are, even the deniers can’t say exactly. But calling it all a big conspiracy somehow explains everything. My guess is that this attitude makes people feel better, less vulnerable and more in control. Powerful even. It’s obvious in the way they flout the rules and ridicule those who try to do the right thing. I had thought this is an attitude that is only rife in America, but no, it is alive and well right here in Hermanus.

All I want to say to these people is that you will change your tune once you, or one of your loved ones, actually contracts this disease which “doesn’t really exist”. Three people close to me have had it, and suffered horribly. None of them have recovered fully. I also have a family member – a strong, fit and healthy person with no comorbidities who ended up on a ventilator in hospital for many weeks before his organs shut down and he passed away. Not from any other causes, or from the normal flu. No, from Covid-19. Deny it all you like, it’s a reality and it can kill you.

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