Use caution as new facts emerge

In the last few days, a couple of new COVID-19 observations have come into view, developing and changing our view of the Great Isolation.

First is research that is revealing — as we test more and more people — that more and more people already have been exposed to the virus, that there were non fatal outbreaks in some major U.S. cities as early as January and February. That suggests for most people the dreaded virus was no more harmful than the plain old regular flu— unpleasant but not deadly.

That is the good news.

The bad news, just developing now, is the theory that even if you had it, you may not be immune from getting it again. This is the opinion of the World Health Organization that points to a lack of evidence supporting immunity.

Dr. Deborah Birx said the WHO statement was based on an excess of caution, that it did not rule out immunity. We will learn more as more evidence is uncovered and our knowledge expands, kind of like removing layers of skin from an onion.

Remember the infamous O.J. Simpson murder trial? Of course you do.

There were fresh headlines every day as new testimony moved opinion on the guilty/not guilty meter from left to right and back again. And this is apart from Judge Lance Ito becoming a national punchline.

If you take a look at the two new informational threads above, if it turns out that for 99% of the population the virus is practically benign, then having immunity doesn’t even matter. But we don’t know these are facts and I am not presenting either as a fact. These are just new things we know, or we think we know.

Across the country, and around the world, countless doctors, scientists, and researchers are working on every aspect of the disease — from medicine to abate it, to vaccines to prevent it. I am convinced we will get “cures” much sooner than anyone is predicting. That is opinion, of course, but it is based on the amazing amount of research being done.

And since so much research is being done, including by people who aren’t the best, we can expect false positives along the way, “cures” that just don’t hold up. Those will be exposed relatively quickly.

I am thinking, as with the O.J. trial, there may be a surprise ending.