The post where I express how pissed off I am at pandemic-holes.
By: Brent Johnson
Tags: Pandemic, Masks, Covid 19, Birth, Childbirth

The post where I express how pissed off I am at pandemic-holes. Brent Johnson Mar 5·3 min read

I recently witnessed the birth of my first child. It was magical. I am so proud of my wife and so in love with our little baby. But, I was afraid I might have had to miss it, a tragedy that would have negatively impacted me and my wife.

My wife and I have been careful with Covid-19, following the most up to date expert advice as it evolved as our knowledge of the virus changed. We wear masks when in public, wash our hands when we can and sanitize when we can’t, avoid public gatherings, haven’t eaten in restaurant, and when we need to go to stores we avoid busy times. We were aware of the severity of the virus and that pregnant people have compromised immune systems.

Nevertheless, about two weeks before our baby’s birth, we received word that we had been potentially exposed to covid. During the event we wore double masks, the person who exposed us was also masked, and the interaction was brief and distanced. Luckily this turned out to be a false positive in a rapid test, and 2 subsequent tests being negative. We were both tested and were negative.

The hospital had put in extra precautions to stop the spread of covid. Most important of which, for this story, was that they only allow one person with the laboring person in the room (plus a certified doula, which we did not have). Without me there, my wife may have had no support during labor, which she would not have wanted and needed. Also, if I had it she likely would have it as well, which would have made laboring that much more difficult, and in some cases, could mean that she would not be able to hold the baby at all to protect the baby.

To date covid has killed 2.5 million people worldwide. Half a million of that has been in the US which the New York Times estimates is underreported by about 25%. The seasonal flu kills between 0.25 million to 0.5 million yearly. The Spanish flu (1918–1920), which lasted for 3 years, killed 50 million. Covid is clearly worse but not nearly as bad as the spanish flu, right? The field of virology was just taking off in 1917 and it took until late in 1918 to determine that the spanish flu was a virus (microscopy was not advanced enough to see viruses at the time), so the culprit of what was killing people was a mystery for awhile. Additionally, steroids, antivirals, antibiotics, and the ventilator did not exist, and though oxygen tanks existed the administration of oxygen was fairly primitive. So, the current death rate is reliant on medical intervention, which relies on access to health care, which relies on keeping the spread of the virus low enough to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed. To further illustrate the point, covid is the leading cause of death in the US as of this writing.

Where does this leave me and my untimely brush with covid? I got lucky for one. I can’t blame the virus because it’s just nature. I can’t blame the hospital as it is taking necessary precautions to prevent the spread of the disease. But I can blame people. I can blame the anti-maskers, and the partiers, and the conspiracy theorists. I can blame all of the people who have made the pandemic so much worse and prolonged the shutdowns out of their foolish disregard of expert advice. It boggles the mind that the group of people who are so upset with the shutdowns and the group of people not taking the recommended precautions to lower the R value happen to be the same group. These petulant kidults who were too selfish to follow voluntary guidelines and too spoiled to do anything but the bare minimum when required.

It is possible that due to the time of year covid would have been back in force anyway. And I know everything is cause and effect and a wealth of life experience have lead these people to their objectional behavior. And I should practice compassion knowing that. But I don’t feel bad for being upset at them and I think that is perfectly acceptable given the context.

In short, fuck the pandemic-holes. Fuck the pandemic-holes for the risk to seeing my child being born. Fuck the pandemic-holes for being as selfish and foolish as they have been. Society asked you to make the simplest of sacrifices to save the lives of your neighbors but you were too entitled. The blood of 500,000 Americans are on your hands. Fuck the pandemic-holes.