WTF did we do? The tragic COVID policies for young people
I don’t know how I went this long without deeply looking into the data that I’ve been sharing in the last two posts (part 1, part 2), but after doing so, it is very hard for me to not get extremely angry about what was done to young people in 2020 & 2021.
This is the same data as shared in previous posts, but presented in a different way. Showing the total deaths for major causes in 2018-19 and 2020-21 for 15-24 year olds & the differences between those time periods:
Nearly 15,000 more people (25% increase) just entering their prime years died in 2020-21 vs 2018-19. Less than 1 in 15 of those deaths have been labeled as due to COVID.
In 2020-21, for every 15-24 year old that died of COVID:
2x as many additional deaths (over 2018-19) died in car accidents
4x as many additional deaths (over 2018-19) died in homicides
5x as many additional deaths (over 2018-19) died in drug overdoses
In addition, there was an increase (over 2018-19) of almost 1 suicide for every 2 COVID deaths.
Some of the policies in 2020-21:
Close gyms, restaurants, bars, playgrounds, beaches
Cancel in-person school
Cancel sports and other extracurricular activities
Force masks in indoor (and outdoor) settings
Move medical appointments to virtual
What am I missing?
It’s hard to overstate what a disaster this was. Has anyone been held accountable?
Alot of people spent alot of time telling each other how resilient kids are, how they "bounce back", how they really don't matter because "they'll be fine". My 90+ year old mother in law proudly told us (via FaceTime) at the peak of the madness that her then 10-year old great granddaughter had carefully moved away from her into a corner of the room because "she's been told the virus would kill me and she might have it without knowing". Proud of the child for understanding the seriousness of it all, proud that she had been terrorised into thinking she might kill this old lady just by breathing near her. I doubt any young person has "bounced back".
I tried to tell people in real time, at the time, in multiple ways
Very few would listen.
Wish I could say that it feels good or vindicating to have been right; alas, it does not.
People are very much still in The Matrix regarding the past 3 years.