Deaths Are Only Part of the COVID Story

Whether the subject is drunk driving, gun violence, or COVID-19, the headline that grabs our attention always is the death toll, of which there tragically have been more than 150,000 of our fellow Americans from COVID-19.

However, what often goes unreported are the large numbers of injuries, whether caused by drunken drivers, guns, or the coronavirus, that have life-altering consequences for victims.

Recent studies have shown that even individuals who are totally asymptomatic when they contract COVID-19 still are likely to have long-term, if not permanent, damage to their heart, lungs, brain, kidneys, and other organs.

With respect to the heart, a study revealed that more than 3/4 of a group of 100 relatively young and healthy persons who contracted COVID-19 had some degree of visible heart damage — 76 had evidence of a biomarker signaling cardiac injury typically found after a heart attack — two months after the virus had cleared their bodies.

We still are learning about the coronavirus, but as time goes on and as our nation lurches ahead with no strategy to contain the pandemic, thereby endangering the lives and health of all of our citizens, it is becoming increasingly clear that COVID-19 is a far more insidious threat than initially had been thought.

And as we learn more and more about how damaging COVID-19 can be to even healthy individuals, it is hard to imagine reopening schools and businesses without a national strategy and adequate funding to ensure the health and safety of our people.