COVID-19 JOURNAL #5 NOT POLITICAL
Title
COVID-19 JOURNAL #5 NOT POLITICAL
Creator
Lfj Gill
Text
COVID-19 JOURNAL #5 NOT POLITICAL
“We’re trying to give you the very best advice we can, and it is going to be changing goal posts…. I don’t set the goal posts. The virus sets the goal posts. As we see things change, our guidance is going to change.” —Governor Raimondo (News brief 5/15/2020)
Covid-19 is not political. Not even bi-partisan. It is a mindless, soulless, non-human pathogen transmitted from human to human by breath (talk, sneeze, cough, laugh)—whether or not the infected person has symptoms—and which to date has sickened 1.4 million Americans and sent 86,000 through horrible suffering to death.
As state and federal governments attempt to mitigate its effects and prevent further disaster, the limitations of their (or anyone’s) control are increasingly obvious, and the political maneuverings of some in government increasingly horrifying.
I, for one, am deeply grateful for a governor, health department, and congressional delegation who do their utmost to utilize the best advice of epidemiologists and infectious disease experts as they work to protect and serve us, the people in Rhode Island.
Some informative notes on viruses I found today while attempting to learn more about what we are dealing with:
“A virus is a microscopic organism that can replicate only inside the cells of a host organism…. Viruses infect all types of organisms, including animals and plants, as well as bacteria and archaea.
“Viruses are microscopic parasites responsible for a host of familiar – and often fatal – diseases, including the flu, Ebola, measles and HIV. They are made up of DNA or RNA encapsulated in a protein shell and can only survive and replicate inside a living host, which could be any organism on earth. This means no life form is safe from infection by a virus.
“Ultimately, science may never agree on whether viruses are alive or not. E. Rybicki described them as being “at the edge of life” – for now, this may be the closest we will get to an answer.”
________________
1 CDC https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html
2 Encyclopedia of Life —www.eol.org Nb: Scientists still argue whether to call a virus an “organism”, since that term implies life. See final note.
3 https://www.newscientist.com/question/are-viruses-alive
“We’re trying to give you the very best advice we can, and it is going to be changing goal posts…. I don’t set the goal posts. The virus sets the goal posts. As we see things change, our guidance is going to change.” —Governor Raimondo (News brief 5/15/2020)
Covid-19 is not political. Not even bi-partisan. It is a mindless, soulless, non-human pathogen transmitted from human to human by breath (talk, sneeze, cough, laugh)—whether or not the infected person has symptoms—and which to date has sickened 1.4 million Americans and sent 86,000 through horrible suffering to death.
As state and federal governments attempt to mitigate its effects and prevent further disaster, the limitations of their (or anyone’s) control are increasingly obvious, and the political maneuverings of some in government increasingly horrifying.
I, for one, am deeply grateful for a governor, health department, and congressional delegation who do their utmost to utilize the best advice of epidemiologists and infectious disease experts as they work to protect and serve us, the people in Rhode Island.
Some informative notes on viruses I found today while attempting to learn more about what we are dealing with:
“A virus is a microscopic organism that can replicate only inside the cells of a host organism…. Viruses infect all types of organisms, including animals and plants, as well as bacteria and archaea.
“Viruses are microscopic parasites responsible for a host of familiar – and often fatal – diseases, including the flu, Ebola, measles and HIV. They are made up of DNA or RNA encapsulated in a protein shell and can only survive and replicate inside a living host, which could be any organism on earth. This means no life form is safe from infection by a virus.
“Ultimately, science may never agree on whether viruses are alive or not. E. Rybicki described them as being “at the edge of life” – for now, this may be the closest we will get to an answer.”
________________
1 CDC https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html
2 Encyclopedia of Life —www.eol.org Nb: Scientists still argue whether to call a virus an “organism”, since that term implies life. See final note.
3 https://www.newscientist.com/question/are-viruses-alive
Date
2020-05-15
Language
English
Location
Hopkinton, RI
Description
Covid-19 is not political, nor partisan.
Collection
Citation
Lfj Gill, “COVID-19 JOURNAL #5 NOT POLITICAL,” Rhode Island COVID-19 Archive, accessed July 7, 2024, https://ricovidarchive.org/index.php/items/show/311.
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