Summary

The author expresses frustration with individuals, including a pastor and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who downplay the severity of Covid-19 despite evidence to the contrary, including personal loss and statistical data.

Abstract

The article reflects the author's exasperation with people, specifically mentioning a pastor and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who dismiss the gravity of the Covid-19 pandemic. The author recounts the personal tragedy of losing both parents to Covid and criticizes the pastor's dismissive attitude towards the virus's impact, questioning the relevance of comorbidities in the face of their suffering and death. The author also challenges Johnson's credibility in interpreting Covid data, given his controversial social gatherings during lockdown and lack of expertise in epidemiology. Referencing research by Dr. Hannah Ritchie, the author points out that the actual death toll from Covid could be significantly higher than official reports, emphasizing the importance of not underestimating the pandemic's true impact. The article concludes by emphasizing the potential consequences of trivializing the virus on public health behaviors and the responsibility of influential figures to not spread misinformation.

Opinions

The author believes that the pastor's skepticism about Covid's severity is unfounded and insensitive, especially given the author's personal loss.
The author questions the validity of Boris Johnson's statements on Covid data, suggesting that Johnson lacks the expertise and has shown a lack of judgment in personal conduct during the pandemic.
The author trusts the research of Dr. Hannah Ritchie, which indicates a higher death toll from Covid than officially reported, and uses this to underscore the seriousness of the pandemic.
The author argues that downplaying the virus's severity can lead to complacency in public health measures, such as vaccination and preventive behaviors.
The author asserts that influential figures, like the pastor, have a responsibility to base their opinions on Covid on factual data and to consider the impact of their words on their followers.
The author implies a comparison between belief in God and belief in the reality of Covid, suggesting that both should be informed by evidence and experience.

“I See Nothing in the Data…” — These People Are Doing My Head In

It’s time to say what I think

The above answer appeared in my Quora feed. The pastor, retired professor and competitive weightlifter sounded off about Covid being a hoax and he has seen nothing to convince him otherwise.

I’d like to see his research — but he didn’t cite his sources.

I commented.

“Last year, my mum and dad died from Covid.”

He replied:

“I’m sorry to hear that. Were there comorbidities?”

Wait! Wait just a minute.

He believes Covid is ‘to a degree’ a hoax and that it is not particularly serious. In order to justify his position, he tries to establish if my mum and dad had underlying conditions.

Does it matter?

Covid made them suffer horribly.

Had they not caught Covid, they might have lived longer — a week, months or years — who’s to know?

Covid robbed them of time and robbed their children and grandchildren of that time with them.

My parents died from covid. How much more serious can you get than that?

Throughout the pandemic, the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, has made decisions that affect everyone in Britain. Occasionally, he has eased restrictions and opened up the country. He has preceded many of his statements to the press with the words:

“I see nothing in the data…”

Wait! Wait just a minute.

This is a man who (on multiple occasions) wandered around №10 Downing Street with hoards of people drinking, doing quizzes, eating canapes, mingling and leaving such a mess the cleaners complained — and he thought it was a ‘work event’.

Boris Johnson is a journalist and politician. Where, when and how did he gain the skill set to examine infection statistics of a virulent virus? He can’t even tell if he is at a party in his own home.

The fact is, he hasn’t looked at the data.

And this is where the line “I see nothing in the data…” comes in useful — You can’t see anything if you don’t look.

The pastor from Quora is of the same mould.

“I have seen nothing to convince me otherwise.”

He has seen nothing to convince him otherwise because he hasn’t looked.

He didn’t see Covid take my mum and dad prisoner and lock them into weeks of extreme body aches, coughing fits, and brain fog. He didn’t see them unable to eat or struggle to drink water. He didn’t see their agonising pain.

My mum and dad were just two people of millions who have suffered. And this pastor thinks it isn’t particularly serious.

Dr Hannah Ritchie, a Senior Researcher at the University of Oxford and the Head of Research at Our World in Data, has looked at the figures. She was interviewed on the BBC More or Less programme.

I believe her when she tells us we missed a lot of deaths from COVID through lack of testing or under-reporting. She knows that testing has not been thorough enough to pick up all the COVID infections and, therefore, deaths.

Rather than tying in each death to a COVID infection, Dr Ritchie counted any death from any cause and asked if there are more or fewer than in a typical year.

This is useful because it is hard to determine what was a direct COVID death and what wasn’t.

She estimated the number of excess deaths caused by COVID in 2021 at 12 million. The 12,000,000 represents the number of additional people who have died compared to those we would expect to see in a normal year.

Dr Ritchie is quick to point out we should not assign all of those extra deaths directly to COVID. However, measuring extra deaths is an alternative way to estimate the impact of a pandemic.

Effectively, the death toll from the COVID pandemic is three to four times higher than our governments are reporting. This is the true impact.

As a Christian minister, having spiritual charge over a congregation, the pastor is in a position of influence. It is important that we do not let these opinions filter through unchecked. They have to be challenged.

It is okay to be uninformed. It is not okay to be uninformed and have an opinion — especially when it costs lives.

People matter

Lessening the seriousness of this virus could cause people to be less vigilant about getting infected and passing it on to the vulnerable or getting vaccinated.

Although, it isn’t just vulnerable people who are suffering and dying. Hospitals are full of unvaccinated people who believe it to be a hoax.

What would you say to the pastor if you had the chance to meet him face to face?

I know what I would say:

There is no God, and I have seen nothing to convince me otherwise.

Rant over. You can read more here and/or sign up to get an email when Malky publishes. And if you haven’t joined Medium, I challenge you to earn money from writing yourself by joining here.