No, COVID-19 Isn't Like the Flu

Anti-Quarantine Protest in Olympia, Washington

“When enough insane people scream in harmony that they really are healthy, they can actually start to believe themselves. Or put even more simply: people with overlapping delusions get along wonderfully.” (Daniel Mackler, Toward Truth, 2010)
From my friend Everett Daniel Maroon, who writes this for anyone who needs to hear it:

1. People dying from the flu over a 7-month period vs. the same number of people dying from COVID-19 over a 6-week period is an important difference.
2. People dying from cancer in hospice or at home vs. people dying in an ICU bed is a big difference in terms of hospital resources.
3. People dying from accidents, gun shot trauma, homicides vs. people dying from a communicable disease is a huge difference in risk to the community.
4. People dying from a communicable disease that we HAVE treatments and cures for vs. people dying from a communicable disease that has no vaccine or curative treatment is a catastrophic difference.
5. People dying from a disease we know about (smallpox, rabies) vs. people dying from a disease we don't yet fully understand is WHY WE TELL PEOPLE TO STAY AT HOME.
6. Acting like these differences don't matter is exactly why governmental leaders around the globe have ordered us to stay home.
7. This is not a Jay Inslee issue. It is not ultimately a Donald Trump issue. Please stop acting like there is nothing different about this novel coronavirus.