Red State Covid Denial

[BlueGreenLady]

I believe that there is, most likely, very serious under-reporting about the number of deaths from Covid-19 in red states. The first example of glaring ignorance about Covid-19 was my 12 year old niece. She was laid up for several weeks in June with a full body rash that included a very swollen tongue. She was taken to the ER for treatment twice at Methodist Hospital but was never tested for Covid-19. I asked if they were going to get her tested and mentioned that rash was a symptom of Covid-19. Apparently, her insurance would not pay for treatment so a test was never done.

In the second example, it seemed that Republican members of my family were going out of their way to deny that Covid-19 is a threat. Last night at my 59 year old cousin's funeral, I mentioned that I was in shock and had no idea that he had been seriously ill. The family repeatedly said that he died of natural causes. However, the story I got from another cousin, who is a respiratory therapist at the Hospital he was in, said he had had been hospitalized for Covid-19 last month and was on oxygen for a while. He got better and returned to work, when he suddenly died.

Is anyone else in Red States seeing this kind of orchestrated denial of reality?

[Cracklin Charlie]

1. In my state...yeah, it's Missouri,

I heard that people are getting secretly vaccinated, so their friends and family don’t know.

My husband and I walked in a SW Missouri convenience store last March wearing masks. We were both not vaxxed yet. We got weird looks, and even a few rude comments. I told some old redneck to shut up through my mask. And here we are.

Pathetic.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. Why are you not vaccinated yet?

The vaccine is readily available everywhere. There's a surplus because so many people aren't getting it.

[Cracklin Charlie]

8. My whole family is vaccinated.

But in March I made a trip to visit an elderly friend. Fully masked. She was quite ill, but has pulled through, and doing well.

My husband vaccinated right after that trip at the VA. I had to wait until April. I got the first shot on our third day of eligibility.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

9. I didn't read your post carefully enough.

Thank you for correcting me.

[Lovie777]

2. Most definitely a undercount starting from the beginning of COVID . . .

which still continues.

And if there was a way to keep antivaxxers contained from the general population of the vaccinated I would wholeheartedly be for it, but alas, they are mingled and among us, some love ones, some friends, some neighbors, etc.

[Glorfindel]

3. Definitely. One hears such things as

"even car wrecks are being reported as COVID-19 deaths, " and the like.

[BlueGreenLady]

4. Excess Mortality Statistics (link)

I am guessing that excess mortality statistics will give some clue as to the actual number of under-reported Covid-19 deaths, but it doesn't help to tell us about under-reported survived cases.
https://ourworldindata.org/excess-mortality-covid

[The Magistrate]

5. Hospitalized Without Testing, Ma'am? Seriously?

Here in Chicago, you get tested (the quick one) regardless of what's wrong when your admitted to the emergency room, and if hospitalized, are kept in an isolation room, regardless of the result of that test, till results from the real brain-tickler test comes back next day.

[BlueGreenLady]

11. I'm in SW Iowa

It is a small regional hospital with lots of Redneck Healthcare workers in it. I informed both my sister and niece, before their second trip to the ER, that full body rash and swelling was a sign of Covid. Still she was not tested. She pulled through it but there was no diagnosis given to my sister or neice.

[The Magistrate]

12. Horrible, Ma'am

I am glad she pulled through, and hope there are no long-term consequences.

[Silent3]

6. I'd certainly be shocked in the case of Florida...

...if DeSantis weren't orchestrating deliberate undercounting.

[salin]

10. Can I ask what state your neice was in?

A major hospital in Indianapolis is known as 'Methodist' - but I know there are others. The one here is part of IU Health which locally has been covid cautious, and I think is requiring all staff to get vaccinated.

I haven't heard stories like these here (Indiana), but given the level of resistance in much of the state to vaccines and mitigation efforts, I wouldn't be surprised.

[smirkymonkey]

13. He died of natural causes at 59?

Usually that cause would be more specific like a heart attack, cancer, diabetes, etc. But just saying that the cause of death was "natural causes" is a little suspicious.

That's something you would say when someone who is in their 90's passes away, but not someone that young.

[BlueGreenLady]

15. I'm in SW Iowa

I also found the natural causes explanation for his death suspicious. After asking more questions from my cousin who has hospital connections, the deceased cousin was being treated for Covid with medication and oxygen last month. A week or so ago he went back to work and collapsed at work. Many of the Rednecks are in total denial that there is any need to protect themselves or others from the "fake news about Covid". I've heard a couple of them say "it's God's will if they live or die, so why worry?".

[smirkymonkey]

17. Oh, I'm sorry. It's so sad, but they have been conned into believing so many things that just

aren't true and it's killing them. I just will never understand these "God's will" people when there are so many things you can do to protect yourself.

[leftyladyfrommo]

16. I have been going back and forth with nonbelievers

all day here in KCMO.

It's all the same old arguments. God will protect me. I'm healthy. Only a 99.9% death rate. Turn off mainstream
news because it's all lies. Ya da ya da ya da.

Same old story.

[Volaris]

18. If metro counties in st louis and KC decide to start shutting things down again,

I'm going to start letting loose some appropriately RIGHTEOUS anger onto the goddamn anti-vaxxers. I suspect that WONT happen again, but I'll not be sparing them ANY public wrath. None at all.

I REALLY wish there were a way to order business that haven't vaxxed ALL their employees to shut down, and everybody else can go about their normal day to day. Killing themselves CLEARLY isnt teaching them anything; there HAS to be a way to start punishing them for their stupidity...

[leftyladyfrommo]

19. These people still believe Covid is no big deal

"I got it last March and it wasn't bad. I'm not getting the shot." Doesn't occur to them that they spread it to everyone around them and some of those people can get deathly ill.

I am tired of trying to deal with these people. There are none so blind as those that don't want to see.

[spinbaby]

20. I talked to a woman whose father died of covid

But she was convinced he would have died anyway because he was 93.