Politicians and Media are Trying to Foist Another Covid Winter on America

It appears some politicians and members of the media are trying to foist another Covid winter on America? In California the pandemic never really ended. California Gov. Gavin Newsom still clings to his autocratic emergency powers under his March 4, 2020 Covid State of Emergency order, so why not perpetrate another crisis?

Hysterical and misleading headlines from mainstream media tell the story:

LAT $: Can California avoid a third devastating COVID winter wave? Some cautious hope

LADN: LA County logs 3,000 new COVID cases, fueling winter surge fears; hospitalizations near 800

SacBee: California hospital ICU’s see 20% jump in COVID-19 patients since last week, state data show. “As of Wednesday, there were 346 patients in hospital intensive care units, accounting for roughly 13% of available beds,” the Sac Bee health care writer reports, but she omits what the 346 ICU patients are hospitalized for.

A quick look at Sacramento County Public health Covid statistics (below) shows about 12-13 Covid “cases” a day are reported, 13 Covid patients in the ICU and 13 recent deaths. It took 3 minutes to look this up.

This chart from the Sacramento County Public Health website shows cases. As of 11/19, 12.9 “cases:”

Here is another headline from the SacBee health reporter: California’s ‘tripledemic’ of viruses is on the rise. Here’s how to care for a sick loved one.

The advice in this 605 word article is useful to anyone who hasn’t ever had the flu: drink plenty of fluids, take Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen for the fever, and get plenty of rest.

What is this “tripledemic” of viruses? COVID-19, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus.

“According to CDC data, the hospitalization rate in all kids for the week of Nov. 12 was twice as high as any other flu season on record,” ABC 7 reported. “The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association say cases of the flu, COVID-19, and RSV are overwhelming the health system.”

However a look at the CDC Covid dashboard shows hospitalizations are static. Of the 331.9 million Americans, there are 19,480 hospitalizations:

Here’s part of the motive: “Declaration of a national emergency would give providers additional funding as well as more flexibility from regulations to deal with what they  call a ‘crisis.’”

The COVID-19 pandemic is over and has been over except for political motivations – and government funding.

Taking a page from Dr. Anthony Fauci who warned families to get Covid tested ahead of Thanksgiving gatherings, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said, “I think there’s ways that we can really improve how we do it, rather than spend our time talking about whether we should or shouldn’t,” referring to family gatherings.

The Los Angeles Times reporters took the hysteria one step further:

“In California, however, coronavirus-positive hospitalizations have been increasing. As of Wednesday, there were 2,782 coronavirus-positive patients in hospitals, up 84% from the autumn low of 1,514 on Oct. 24.”

There are 40 million residents in California, and 2,782 are Covid-positive in the hospital?

“Nationally, hundreds of Americans are still dying every day of COVID-19, which remains a leading cause of death. And there are signs that transmission is once again on the upswing,” the LAT reports.

But the CDC reports, COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer.

For perspective, on any given day, approximately 740 Californians die of all causes, totaling about 270,000 California deaths annually.

Here is the California Public Health Covid dashboard of Covid “cases” and deaths:

According to the California Department of Public Health, as of November 21, 2022, there are zero deaths from Covid.

But at the top of their chart, the CDPH shows 96,701 total Covid deaths. This is the cumulative total since February 1, 2020, through November 22, 2022, according to the CDPH’s data.

The state of California wants people to believe that Covid patients are dropping like flies at 12 per day. But that is the average over the entire almost 3-year Covid pandemic since February 2020.

It’s feeling like Groundhog Day with public health officials and media breathlessly talking about Covid “cases,” rather than focusing on the vulnerable groups of people.

Throughout the pandemic, there was too heavy of a focus on an uptick in cases, as Stanford’s Dr. Scott Atlas reported, “especially in places where governors either have reinstated or have further enforced restrictions. When we see this focus on more cases, it doesn’t really matter how many cases — it only matters who gets the cases. We know that the infection-fatality rate for people under 70 is 0.04 percent — that’s less than or equal to the seasonal flu,” he said.

A physician told the Globe that because doctors even can have a difficult time getting good data through their hospitals, trends are far more important numbers than raw numbers to study, as it gives more context.

For the average American, faith in government authority was significantly eroded because of how Covid was handled, managed and grossly mismanaged. It’s still going on with politicians and the State of California inundating the people with advertisements pushing Covid vaccines and masks by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). These ads are everywhere – radio, television, online ads, social media, iHeart radio, Sirius radio – even radio hosts are being paid to read the CDPH ads… it’s difficult to escape the commercials.

The governor and Legislature are also seeking to punish physicians and surgeons for “unprofessional conduct” for advocating for the potential benefits of early treatment with off-label drugs, or those who dare to ask questions about COVID vaccine safety. Under AB 2098 doctors will be subject to disciplinary actions by the Medical Board of California and the Osteopathic Medical Board of California if they do not adhere to the “approved COVID treatment consensus.”

Fortunately, a group of California physicians has filed a complaint and motion for a preliminary injunction in Høeg, et al. v. Newsom, et al., asking the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California prevent AB 2098 from going into effect.

Will there be another Covid Groundhog Day? The Californians I talk to say “oh, Hell no.”