I think it's safe to say that we all have our various opinions on both the real severity of the virus itself... and the way various countries, states, and even right on down to the county levels as to how it's been handled.
My personal feeling is that, though serious... I believe the real severity to an otherwise healthy person has been overplayed. I also believe the statistics themselves have been skewed in many ways to either support or defend various interpretations... depending on the position those presenting them wished to make.
I'll not get into the debate here about the severity issue... but I will address the latter one about statistics, as I have first-hand knowledge, having become part of those statistics just recently. Here's the story:
As part of the process of dealing with some other medical issues I have... my doctor wanted me to participate in a sleep study for sleep apnea. This was no real surprise, as I've always been quite sure I have it... I just never had it officially diagnosed before. So I did the study... they confirmed it... and the next step was to follow-up with another overnight stay to do the CPAP mask fitting & tests for proper pressures & such.
As part of this, I would be trying & using different masks while breathing thru their various ventilation systems & filters. To ensure that my use wouldn't contaminate their system, I was required to go get a COVID test. Mind you, I had not had any symptoms of the virus... nor had any virus-related abnormalities showed up in the various blood tests they had performed on me in relation to the other medical issues I was seeing them for. But it was a requirement, so I went to get the test.
I took the test on the morning of Tuesday, January 26th, and didn't think anything else of it. However, on Friday, Jan 29th... I received the following letter in my email:
To say that I was surprised at this is an understatement. I felt fine. No unordinary symptoms... no loss of smell or taste as others who've had the virus have reported... no shortness of breath... etc. Yet here I was... now an official COVID statistic to add to the growing numbers.
So I called the Health Dept to follow-up and report that I wasn't sick, had no symptoms, and to ask a few questions. The lady was very polite, expressed her joy that I had no symptoms, and explained the process. Sure enough, I was to place myself in quarantine here at home for the next 2 weeks, and to document my health 3 times daily on a form they included with the letter & test results. She then asked if I had enough food & supplies in the house to sustain me, and said they could arrange delivery of such if I needed anything.
So I did as requested.. which wasn't really all that difficult since our winter, which had been pretty mild until now, had definitely turned worse. It began snowing almost daily... and for 10 days out of those 14, the temps never went above freezing. So all in all, I was going to simply hibernate inside anyway... and I can't say I was really inconvenienced.
But, back to the issue. On February 4th, I was contacted again by the Health Dept, and was asked about my condition. I reported that no changes had occurred... that I still felt fine.. no fevers, no unordinary aches & pains, no shortness of breath. I was then sent the following letter & Termination of Quarantine Order:
So officially on paper, I'm one of the millions who have been "infected by COVID"... yet I've never been sick. I never went to the doctor, was never admitted into the hospital... hell, other than at the end, no one even checked on me after my test came back positive. I was put on the "honor system" to report my condition.
I can't even say I've been "adversely effected", because I really haven't. Since I'm retired and receiving a pension, my income hasn't been diminished... and because of the weather situation I detailed above, I wasn't really inconvenienced.
So I guess all I'm saying is.. just because one may get the virus, don't mean one's gonna die. It doesn't even mean they're gonna get sick. It just means you got it.
I guess it's kinda like kidney stones. Urinary physicians say that there's a good probability that at least 33% of the population above 20 years old is probably walking around with a kidney stone and don't even know it because it's so small that they'll eventually pass it without any real discomfort. But if we wanted to fly off the handle, and spin it... we could say that we have a urinary-condition epidemic in the world.