by John McLoone

Patti: You need to wear a mask

Last week, I let Patti have this space to tell us about all the lies surrounding COVID-19.

Well, I’ve got the easiest columnist job in the business, because this week, another anonymous letter hit my desk, telling Patti how it is.

Since I let Patti have this space – and to appease the one lady who cancelled her subscription because of what Patti wrote – here’s this week’s installment!

Patti, Patti, Patti, The entire world is not lying to you about the COVID virus.

First let me say – I’m sorry for your loss. You must be heartbroken.

As a cancer patient, your Aunt was likely in and out of the hospital for treatment or on hospice care and would have needed to be tested for COVID so the nurses and doctors treating her were not put at risk and to keep her safe. Cancer compromises the immune system and the last thing a cancer patient needs is to get any other illness. Without, COVID being the last straw, your Aunt might still be alive. COVID is hardest on people with contributing factors like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Patti – I think you now know someone who has died from COVID and it is messing up your view that this is “no big deal.”

I read your letter and was going to let it go because you are clearly grief-stricken. But you made some false claims and it seems we both hate lies. Let’s be very clear. Hospitals are not being paid to let people die of COVID. Here is what you don’t know. here is a higher Medicare reimbursement if a hospital is treating someone with COVID – BUT it is limited to people who are on Medicare. Medicare reimbursements are well below the cost of patient care. This is why some places won’t even take Medicare – it’s a loss. No one is getting rich off COVID deaths. Hospitals are required to care for everyone – even if they do not have insurance or have limited insurance like Medicare. The CARES Act allowed more money to go to Medicare to treat people during this pandemic. The people most likely to be hospitalized and hit hardest by this virus are older and on Medicare. It makes sense to help hospitals treat them. The key word there is “treat.” I was outraged by your claim that “hospitals make money from the government if someone dies in the hospital from the virus.” It’s just not true. That lie published in a local paper might make someone NOT go to the hospital when treatment could save them.

There is a public health benefit to knowing how many people are dying from COVID. Argue all day about the correctness of the counts – but the truth is people are dying. Doctors and medical examiners care about public health and communities need cause of death information to be accurate. In Milwaukee, medical examiners review medical records even if a patient died in the hospital – just to make sure the symptoms and testing add up to a death from COVID.

You mentioned AIDS and did you know that AIDS is also a virus that we hadn’t ever seen before the 1970’s? You probably don’t know anyone who has died of AIDS (it’s not like they put it in the obituaries). The AIDS virus is sexually transmitted and spread a lot slower than the COVID virus. COVID spreads by droplets and aerosol transmission (think of inhaling a cigarette and blowing out the smoke) – aerosol means tiny particles like smoke. If you walk through the “smoke” that someone with COVID exhales – you can catch the virus. The longer you are in and around the “smoke” the more likely you will get sick. COVID has killed 180,000 people in six months. Wear a mask Patti.