A deadly gamble

A funeral director I know from Southern Idaho looked weary when I saw him recently. He said he’d been overwhelmed with business last summer due to COVID deaths — ten victims recently, eight unvaccinated, two others with underlying conditions. He was looking forward to retirement next year.

Last Friday (October 8) there were 130 COVID patients in Kootenai Hospital. On the same day there were 220 COVID patients in all 14 Northwell Health hospitals in New York City.

That’s an astonishing contrast. Kootenai County’s population is 175,000. New York City has 8.9 million people. The other primary contrasts are vaccination rates (64% in NYC vs. 41% in Kootenai County), and NYC mask mandates vs. Kootenai anti-maskers.

Proportionally, if NYC had the same COVID infection rate as Kootenai County, you would expect thousands of COVID patients in NYC’s Northwell hospitals — not 220. In fact Northwell had 4,000 COVID patients at the peak of the pandemic, when bodies were piled up in portable morgues.

Conversely, if Kootenai County had the same infection rate as NYC, you’d probably find today about a dozen COVID patients in Kootenai Hospital.

I can understand and respect Idahoans’ libertarian streak. But the virus doesn’t give a damn. It’s totally indifferent to politics and respects no one’s liberties. Sadly, too many Idahoans (and others throughout this country) don’t get that. They assign a political identity to the virus and assert a kind of righteous freedom to roll the COVID dice. It’s a deadly gamble for a false sense of liberty.

Steve McNutt

Spokane