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This column reflects the opinion of the writer. Learn about the differences between a news story and an opinion column.

Another view

Here are some facts that we need to understand:

1. 45,000 deaths a year in Spokane County from all causes.

2. 17 alleged corona deaths (as of April 15) or 0.00038 of the 45,000.

I use the word alleged because the CDC rules tell the doc who signs the death certificate that if the person dies and is subsequently tested positive for the virus, calling it death by COVID-19 is OK. I don’t believe even the most liberal doc would put death by COVID-19 if the person died in a head-on collision and tested positive but the CDC rules could be so interpreted.

Let’s say we took all the measures suggested by WHO, CDC, HS, Dr. Fouci, and President Trump except for shutting down the Spokane County business community, and the alleged deaths were quadrupled. The death rate would be 0.0015, which is a little higher than the seasonal flu. For this we have destroyed the best economy, the lowest unemployment rate and the highest wage growth in the last four decades.

As Rahm Emanuel, Democratic mayor of Chicago, once famously said: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” You can thank our “one size fits all” governor in Olympia for managing this crisis. Please remember he is running for governor this year.

John Miller

Spokane Valley

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