At Biznews, we strive to follow our craft’s directive – being a “journalist” means publishing both sides of any story, debits and credits. Admittedly, we deviated from this while the Zuptoids ran riot. But that was an anomaly. For the most part, we believe our community are thoughtful beings who prefer exposure to all sides of the story. So we strive to offer that.
So published opinions of the Covid-19 Crisis has ranged from scare-mongers to nay-sayers. But no matter how compelling the arguments – barring the frontline clinicians – most are speculating from a distance. Analysing data has a way of doing that to people. But when the consequences get close to home, perspectives can alter rather rapidly.
Also read: Inside with Chris Bateman: When Covid-19 and chemotherapy potentially collide
For the most recent episode of Inside Covid-19, I interviewed our colleague Chris Bateman. As genuine a sapien you’ll ever encounter, a rural lad who never lost his fluency in isiZulu, giving him a view not accessible for many. Last night he opened a window into his personal health battle, one which means catching the coronavirus will almost certainly be fatal.
Without Covid-19, Chris would be confident of coming through chemo and the excising of the cancer in reasonable shape. But now, visiting the hospital for the surgery carries huge risk. For statisticians and economists who love telling us Covid-19’s mortality rate is not much worse than seasonal flu, Chris might be just another number. For those who know him and the thousands of other immune-compromised people, the perspective is very different.
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