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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOlder Americans are more worried about coronavirus -- unless they're Republican
Seventy-year-old Sal Gentile, writing in response to a question from The Washington Post, suggested that he wasnt particularly worried about the coronavirus outbreak.
Yep, I have a pacemaker and recent fusion, he wrote; however my love for quality of life is more important to me than being rattled by a TV station.
Gentile is one of the Americans most at risk from the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned those 60 and older and those with medical conditions to be particularly wary of its spread, given the higher mortality rates associated with those factors. Gentile would seem to fit into both categories, but, like many other residents of the Florida retirement community The Villages who were profiled by The Post this week, he doesnt seem particularly worried.
The Villages has become something of a benchmark for older America, surging in size as the number of older Americans has steadily increased. A visit to the community earlier this week found that residents were continuing their social activities as they normally would, most as unrattled as Gentile. For some readers it spurred nothing short of bafflement: young people are forgoing social activities to halt the spread of a disease that isnt particularly dangerous for them but those most at risk are living life as normal?
Part of the issue may be that The Villages isnt necessarily as representative of Americas older population as it may seem.
-snip-
Why might The Villages be an outlier? Because its more heavily Republican.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/14/older-americans-are-more-worried-about-coronavirus-unless-theyre-republican/
maryellen99
(3,788 posts)Both full of elderly republicans.
Skittles
(153,147 posts)they literally care about Trump more than they care about the health of everyone
lettucebe
(2,336 posts)because they are certainly encouraging them to go out and enjoy crowds. Weird but not surprising considering the source.
eilen
(4,950 posts)Mariana
(14,854 posts)They told me all the swimming pools were crowded, when I talked to them yesterday. Those people are not going to believe it's real until they and their friends start dying. Even then, they'll blame Obama.