One of the most unsettling things that we've seen come out of the coronavirus pandemic is how many deaths are occurring because people simply don't believe that the pandemic is real, despite so much hard evidence to the contrary. Much of that has come from misinformation or a deep mistrust in the media. But either way, these deaths are tragic, and it demonstrates a huge and ongoing problem in our country. One 30-year-old man who thought that news coverage of the pandemic was overblown learned the hard way that it was very real and very deadly.
The unidentified patient died from the coronavirus after attending a "COVID party," according to a health official in San Antonio, Texas. COVID parties are a new and very dangerous trend that have been taking place in certain cities. People attend the parties to intentionally contract COVID. Sometimes there's a cash prize for those who get infected first. Other times, the parties are held as a way to get sick with the hope of becoming immune. In some cases, it seems like people are just holding the parties out of pure curiosity.
Dr. Jane Appleby, chief medical officer of Methodist Healthcare in San Antonio, said the idea of these parties is to see if the virus is real. "This is a party held by somebody diagnosed by the COVID virus and the thought is to see if the virus is real and to see if anyone gets infected," Dr. Appleby said. It's a frightening new trend but one that seems to be taking off in certain cities, including San Antonio.
"Just before the patient died, they looked at their nurse and said 'I think I made a mistake, I thought this was a hoax, but it's not,'" Dr. Appleby said. She wanted to make this case public, keeping the man's identity private, to help the public understand that this pandemic is very real. She wants others to understand that before it's too late.
The situation in Texas has been worsening, with hospitals saying they can't handle many more patients. Dr. Appleby says she wants everyone, especially those in the younger demographic, to really take this seriously. While younger people tend to fare a bit better healthwise if they contract the virus, that doesn't mean it can't be deadly. Now we're seeing the rates of young people becoming infected continue to rise.
A big part of that rise is due to the fact that younger people don't seem afraid of getting sick. But Dr. Appleby warns, "It doesn't discriminate and none of us are invincible. I don't want to be an alarmist, and we're just trying to share some real-world examples to help our community realize that this virus is very serious and can spread easily."
Even if young people are in good health and are able to survive the virus themselves, intentionally contracting the virus still poses huge risks to the greater public. Dr. Appleby says the testing positivity rate has jumped to 22%. "This is a concerning increase from a positive rate of about five percent only several weeks ago."
As the rate in the United States continues to soar, how people handle the virus will play a crucial role. It's tough to expect everyone to be on the exact same page, especially because so many people are becoming fatigued with staying at home. Everyone seems to be processing the pandemic differently, and it's still a very new phenomenon to us all. That's why cases like this are so important for the public to hear about because it shows that anyone can still be affected, and even die.
Young people from 18 to 35 are being more affected by the virus than ever.
States with soaring rates are imploring young people to pay attention. "I really want young people to understand that this can be very serious for them, and, of course, it can be very serious for their loved ones who are in their 60s, 70s, 80s,” Dr. Matthew Heinz, a hospitalist who's been treating patients with COVID-19 at Tucson Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona, told Healthline.
The state of Texas is desperate for a turnaround. Governor Greg Abbott, who once didn't feel masks were necessary, has now changed his tune. He recently ordered all Texans to wear face coverings in public. The announcement was made just before the Fourth of July.
Wearing masks has shown over and over again that it can help prevent transmission. But the most important thing that people can do otherwise is to not put themselves in dangerous situations where they could get sick. Trying to get sick intentionally is a trend that needs to stop immediately. But in order for that to happen, people need to wake up and start paying attention to what's really happening.
The sad truth is that people who don't believe the pandemic is real are going to continue to suffer like this 30-year-old man who had so much life left to live. But it's a terrible way to find out that you were wrong about something so dangerous. Hopefully, the tide will soon turn, and people across the country, young and old, healthy and at-risk, will take this pandemic seriously.
