Russ's Ravings: Death Is Not The Only Important COVID-19 Metric

Editor's note: The following is Patch Field Editor Russ Crespolini's, hopefully, weekly column. It is reflective of his opinion alone.

Everyone seems to be very focused on the fatality rate of the new coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic.

And that makes sense.

But there are a lot of repercussions for people who survive the disease and that shouldn’t be overlooked. Many have a long road ahead in terms of recovering. Some people will have long-term, if not permanent damage to their organs particularly the respiratory system.

There is also an illness that many doctors say is being caused by an immune response to COVID-19. While not fatal, it can be serious and require hospitalizations.

As we start to slowly reopen the Garden State, these are the kind of things we all need to be mindful of. The number of fatalities, while important is not the be all and end all of things we should consider.

I say this because I know for a fact that many of my readers are not considering the other factors. What many of you don't know, and why would you, is that I am on the social media group pages for various towns throughout Morris, Sussex and Warren County for work.

I find it a great resource because it allows me to see what different members of the community might be feeling about town topics and I get to see information I might not see otherwise on the grass roots level. I am also on one for the town in which I live, where I do not work.

And I have to say that some of these posts, and ideas being pushed forward have me concerned.

There is one gentleman that wants to organize secret sporting events in town because his kids miss sports and miss their friends. Of course, most people fall into this category, but they aren't championing violating executive orders and risking others to do so. In fact, he claims he already had organized and had one of these events at his house.

He also wants to come up with creative ways for businesses to open and for people to secretly patronize them. His idea is to do it without dealing with bureaucracy because hey, he has the right to do this and is encouraging others to do the same.

In this case he spouts a series of figures about recovery rates and personal freedom and also leans on the fact that children are not getting sick or dying.

Except, if you follow the latest news, now they are. But all the data is delayed.

My favorite moment of the week was when he said to people pushing back on his plans being unsafe for front line workers: "Well nurses and doctors chose this profession. So they can walk away if they want to."

Cool. It was the first time someone so close to home had disrespected front line workers that I had seen.

To me that is like if aliens descended en masse with ray guns blazing you would turn to a local cop and say, "Welp. You signed up for this, hoss."

Listen, I get it. We are all on edge. We are all being broken down bit by bit every day. This includes me. I found myself despondent at the end of last week with the latest developments in the pandemic, with children being hospitalized.

But now is not the time, in our need to find someone to blame, to place our faith in bad places. Blocking ambulances from reaching hospitals is not patriotism. Screaming in the face of front line workers is not patriotism. Holding wiffleball tournaments in our yards is not patriotism. And fighting with someone on the internet who doesn't agree with you is not patriotism. And this last one, also goes for me. Because we are making the situation worse in a time when it will take all of us to make it better.

Because even if it isn't fatal, do you want to be out of contact with a loved one for weeks while they struggle to recover in a hospital? Do you want to watch your child suffer a high fever, swollen palms of the hands and soles of the feet, peeling skin on the hands and feet, swollen glands, joint pain, bloodshot eyes and more?

My daughter had a small heart murmur at three months old and I will never, ever forget that feeling in the cardiac center of the hospital as she was being tested. And I am thankful, literally every day, that she is healthy.

I cannot even fathom sitting through a serious illness with her.

So we have to do better. We have to aim higher. We have to look not only at survival rates, but at the damage being done that doesn't fall into an easy category and reportable metrics.

The spread of this virus will impact families for years to come. And not those who are immunocompromised or have preexisting conditions. But healthy ones.

We, myself included, need to do better. We need to find a way to really help, not just make ourselves feel better at the expense of others by going off of bad data.

And we need to aim higher than "survival."

Russ Crespolini is a Field Editor for Patch Media, adjunct professor and college newspaper advisor. His columns have won awards from the National Newspaper Association and the New Jersey Press Association.

He writes them in hopes of connecting with readers and engaging with them. And because it is cheaper than therapy. He can be reached at russ.crespolini@patch.com