Public Health Logic vs. #MasksForAll

April 2, 2020 By Jennifer Fitz

I’m not an epidemiologist, but I do sometimes teach logic. So check out this bit of public health polemic from CIDRAP: There is some evidence that surgical masks can be effective at reducing overall particle emission from patients who have multidrug-resistant tuberculosis,36 cystic fibrosis,34 and influenza.33 The latter found surgical masks decreased emission of large particles (larger than 5 µm) by 25-fold and small particles by threefold from flu-infected patients.33 Sung37 found a 43% reduction in respiratory viral infections in stem-cell patients when everyone, including... Read more

Flattening the Curve vs. Flattening the Economy

March 23, 2020 By Jennifer Fitz

In response to a popular piece on the economic devastation of “flattening the curve” my friend Scott Reeves issued a challenge to me: Jen, I think you’re wrong. Check us off on the test of true friendship, and then read Scott’s thoughtful challenge to the Church, which is pertinent to anyone who opposes the flattening of the faith. Meanwhile, as an Armchair Junior Economist, with the weight such a position entails, here are some quick thoughts on what I think... Read more

At Least Half of American Adults are High-Risk for COVID-19 Death

March 19, 2020 By Jennifer Fitz

Friends are circulating this article from Bloomberg, which for some reason is supposed to be reassuring, “99% of Those Who Died From Virus Had Other Illness, Italy Says.” In the sampling of cases, Bloomberg reports that of those who died: More than 75% had high blood pressure, about 35% had diabetes and a third suffered from heart disease. So what does that mean for American readers? The CDC estimates that 13% of Americans have diabetes. Concerning high blood pressure, from... Read more

Common Sense Diagnoses

March 15, 2020 By Jennifer Fitz

I’m not a physician and I’m not an epidemiologist, but I do sometimes teach logic. I am seeing stories come in from various US states of people who should not be in ICU ending up in ICU for a mysterious respiratory ailment. It tests negative for the flu and the like, it presents as if it might be COVID-19, but since testing is very limited, COVID-19 status cannot be known one way or another. So let’s think through this: Either we... Read more

I’m No Socialist But . . .

March 10, 2020 By Jennifer Fitz

. . . Yasha Mounk at The Atlantic is correct: When the coronavirus first spread to South Korea, many observers pointed to the comparatively low death rates in the country to justify undue optimism. In countries with highly developed medical systems, they claimed, a smaller portion of patients would die. But while more than half of all diagnosed patients in China have now been cured, most South Korean patients are still in the throes of the disease. Of 7,478 confirmed cases, only... Read more

Driving Off the Cliff with Your Seatbelt On

March 9, 2020 By Jennifer Fitz

The selective caution of American public health officials is a tragicomedy. If you’re on a cruise ship or just got back from Italy and happen to grab the attention of the right folk, we take dramatic steps to prove we are Doing Something. Massive outrage if the chosen victim does not abide to strict quarantine. Otherwise, it’s see-no-evil. Community-transmission cases among the elderly in small-town South Carolina? Oh, gosh, I don’t know, maaaybeeeee there kinda could be sorta possibly other people with... Read more

Alternatives to School Closures

March 6, 2020 By Jennifer Fitz

As the US starts feeling the impact of our still-unmeasured coronavirus situation, public health authorities and school districts have to decide what to do about all our darling disease-vectors crammed together in the classroom each day. Something to consider: How about making schools more school-from-home compatible? Having done both, I know very well that classroom teaching and homeschooling are completely different from one another. The textbooks and lesson plans are not the same, and it’s rather a pain to teach... Read more

7QT: Catholic Social Teaching Kicks in During Quarantine, and After

February 28, 2020 By Jennifer Fitz

Let’s talk about the economics of epidemics. By the time we’ve hit all seven takes for today, we’ll have a to-do item. #1 I am inclined to believe COVID-19 is for serious. It can be tough to decipher the reality behind news out of China. Frankly it’s tough to decipher the reality behind any click-provoking, ad-selling story picked up by the modern media. But here is something fairly rare: China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, and Italy all went into freak-out mode... Read more

Racist vs. Regal

February 19, 2020 By Jennifer Fitz

I was appalled to see this defense of police-sponsored racist harassment by John McWhorter writing at The Atlantic of all places, making the case that it’s okay to vote for a viciously racist authoritarian regime, as long as it’s not Trump. Um . . . no? Just no. And while we’re at it, that’s a big fat no to offensive stereotyping in the name of high fashion, and in what backwards world must we depend on The New York Post to cover that... Read more

The 2020 Elections, as Clarified by Lunch and a Manslaughter Trial

February 11, 2020 By Jennifer Fitz

So today I ate lunch today at a local Trump campaign meeting, an unexpected encounter that answered a few questions about the national mood. (For those who don’t recall, here’s where I stood four years ago. No significant change to report.) Meanwhile, here’s a headline being passed around Twitter: Couple indicted on involuntary manslaughter charge for allegedly terminating pregnancy. Mom and Dad ordered misoprostol from an overseas pharamcy, used it to induce an abortion, and sure enough it worked. Exactly which Ohio laws... Read more