If you are given a chance to view a video with these two hacks, please, by all means, try NOT to view it. Viewing this video only will give it more traction, which is does not need. I am not linking to this video for multiple reasons. .Unfortunately the video already has 4 million views and growing rapidly. This video is the most current form of RWNJ’s ammunition to force people to do something they want and I am going to try to get in front of it by delivering some facts about what the video entails, but more importantly, what is does not.
First off, the video title begins with a lie to the eyes, the title states “ER Physician Drops Multiple COVID-19 Bombshells”. The doctor is a FORMER ER Physician, he now, with is partner, runs an urgent care clinic in a rural part of California. This so called doctor has no idea what real ER Physicians are facing with Covid-19, especially in populated areas. These doctors clinic(s) are located in Bakerfield, California, population 330,000. In comparison to most of the state, this is a “smaller” town.
After testing thousands of people, he and his business partner, physician Artin Massihi, say they have enough data to draw some conclusions about COVID-19.
Their message: COVID-19 is more ubiquitous and less deadly than we think. It's similar to influenza and we should therefore reopen society and stop treating the situation like the lethal menace it was initially thought to be.
"Two months ago we didn't know this so I'm bringing it to light now," Erickson said Wednesday at a news conference held at his Coffee Road urgent care.
Kern County Public Health Services Spokeswoman Michelle Corson and an epidemiologist contacted by The Californian said they didn't agree with the doctors' recommendation to end social distancing and immediately start reopening society.
"This is a many-headed hydra. It’s really unfortunate to boil this all down to it’s just flu," said Andrew Noymer, associate professor of public health at UC Irvine. "There’s no flu season that looks anything like New York does right now."
Accelerated urgent care has done 5,213 COVID-19 tests at its five Bakersfield locations, Erickson said — which is more than half the 9,197 tests done so far in Kern County. Of those, 340 were positive, according to Erickson.
If that percentage of positive cases were assumed to represent the entire population of Kern County, which is roughly 900,000, it would mean about 58,000 people in Kern have had the virus, far more than the nearly 700 official confirmed, Erickson said.
That many cases would "indicate there is a widespread (COVID-19) infection, similar to flu," Erickson said.
Ok, these two hacks are seeking their 5 minutes of fame by essentially, extrapolating positive test result rates across an entire population of California and using test results from testing almost only those whom were or are symptomatic. They are pushing factual inaccuracies and playing off the esoteric nature of the mortality stats to make a case that the economy should be reopened.
As if this was not bad enough, these two hacks really lost me and their main motivation became clear when they noted a contradiction between allowing people to shop at Costco and Home Depot but not allowing them to go to church, referring to such a measure as dancing on churchgoers constitutional rights.
This video is being spread far and wide, if you see it or are somehow forced to comment on it, please do your best to correct its inaccuracies.