[Barborv]

Our friends daughter is a doctor and she was working in Elmhurst hospital in Queens NY. She said they had to line up all the body bags behind the hospital because they were over loaded. She was working the Covid wards. Three people I know personally lost loved ones due to Covid. I still see far too many people not wearing masks in public places . Just heard that the Publix at Southern Trace had 2 employees test positive .

[OhioBuckeye]

People come to Florida to vacation & they’re not going to sit in their rented house or hotel the whole time they’re there. Also how’s come we never hear about homeless people getting Covid19? They live out in the open, they’re dirty & hard telling where they get there food. This goes for our politicians too, why aren’t more of them getting it?

[Lindsyburnsy]

So the 130,000+ people who have died aren't really dead and the media is just trying to put fear into the public? I'm wearing a mask and keeping my distance, just in case that it's not a "hoax".

Originally Posted by Edjkoz

The media cannot be trusted to deliver news because it’s no longer their job. Their job is to sell advertising. By keeping us in fear and divided they hav determined that we will watch, listen or read more news thereby increasing their ad revenue

[OETTING]

Is it the media we can’t trust, or is it the state that supplies those numbers? Do you think the media makes up random numbers or that they call every hospital every day?It’s the states own COVID Dashboard that supplies the data, and even their data is suspect. So stop blaming the fake news media for everything that doesn’t line up with your belief system.

[Elmartin3]

There was a time not to long ago when not telling the truth would be a stigma on you or your business that was difficult to ever shake off. It seems now just tell the lie, denie it first and keep on luring and everyone will get over it and forget. So sad! I hope we get back to holding people accountable for their lack of integrity and stating feelings and opinions are facts.

[Elmartin3]

There was a time not to long ago when not telling the truth would be a stigma on you or your business that was difficult to ever shake off. It seems now just tell the lie, denied the other sides data and keep on lying and everyone will get over it and forget. So sad! I hope we get back to holding people accountable for their lack of integrity and stating feelings and opinions are facts.

[IvorT]

Most of this conversation seems to be about death and statistics. Death from COVID is unlikely. You can argue whether the numbers are rising, falling or staying the same, whatever. But, for the thousands who get this disease, it’s not a walk in the park, it is several days of wishing you were dead, because breathing is so hard you think you can’t go on. It’s days feeling so I’ll, you can’t ever remember feeling so sick. If you want an illness like that, go out without a mask, eat in a place where the staff don’t wear masks. Make sure to give it to your friends. ALTERNATIVELY take precautions.

[Velvet]

No confirmed cases in North Korea! I guess anybody that gets it gets shot. Good way to stop the virus from spreading . Wouldn’t be surprised under Communism.

[justjim]

Originally Posted by GoodLife

The media is not just biased, they are flat out spreading lies.

Media gets it wrong when the data they receive is wrong (And mistakes are occasionally made) but to say they are spreading lies is a stretch. A free press is necessary for a democracy. Freedom of the press is one of the rights protected by the First Amendment same as freedom of speech, right to assemble, freedom of religion, etc.

[Villages Kahuna]

Originally Posted by GoodLife

Sounds scary doesn't it? But it's a flat out lie meant to scare you. Panic Porn

This post is intended to be as misleading to readers as the worst of politicized broadcasting or journalism.

I can't understand the motivations of those who can't or won't accept the ignorance of our political leaders to react to the pandemic in a timely manner, and then even worse place the recovery of the economy and personal political success above the exploding levels of sickness and deaths of U.S. citizens.

We are in the early stages of a pandemic. Period. The statistics collected and reported daily are reliable. To some extent forget about the national and even statewide statistics. Those reported for Sumter County are most important to me. Those reports show a 9.2% increase in positive test results in one day -- from Thursday to Friday! There are very few if any ICU beds available in nearby hospitals and the death rate is increasing. Hopefully, it won't get to the point where refrigerated trailers are needed for the bodies. But make no mistake, this is a virus you don't want to catch. It can have deadly results and life-changing effects on human organs.

Remember the political arguments and even TV ads showing that Obamacare would result in "death panels". We're close to that point right now as the result of COVID-19. Many doctors, nurses and hospitals overwhelmed with sick patients had to make the awful decisions whether to treat the sick patient, or simply recognize that they will never recover and should be made as comfortable as possible until they die. Do we want to be a part of that?

All that is worse for senior citizens, like me and most others reading these posts, is to refuse or fail to accept the serious illness threatening us all. We'd be better off, much better off, accepting the fact that our country and ultimately our economy is under serious threat by an apolitical virus for which there is no current cure or even short-term treatment.

All any of us can do going forward is to accept the recommendations of the doctors and scientists on how to limit the spread of the virus -- stay home, use masks outside your home, wash and disinfect your hands, don't touch your face -- and pray that a cure is developed. Trying to mislead people, as was done by the initial poster here is not only shameful, but life-threatening to all of us.

[justjim]

Originally Posted by OETTING

Is it the media we can’t trust, or is it the state that supplies those numbers? Do you think the media makes up random numbers or that they call every hospital every day?It’s the states own COVID Dashboard that supplies the data, and even their data is suspect. So stop blaming the fake news media for everything that doesn’t line up with your belief system.

I agree. You are spot on in your comment.

[GoodLife]

Originally Posted by OETTING

Is it the media we can’t trust, or is it the state that supplies those numbers? Do you think the media makes up random numbers or that they call every hospital every day?It’s the states own COVID Dashboard that supplies the data, and even their data is suspect. So stop blaming the fake news media for everything that doesn’t line up with your belief system.

The media knows how to get actual date of death numbers. They choose not to as the Sentinel story shows.

[Slapnut]

I heard that last year there were 1 and a half million deaths from tuberculosis but no masks for that. The death rate from this so called pandemic is one hundredth of one percent. It's a scare tactic that I am sick and tired of hearing about. It's about control. If the government can scare us into controlling what we do and how we live then we will become a dictatorship. We really need to stand up to these idiots and let them know that we won't take it anymore

[kaniess]

At this time we need to focus on the availability of ICU beds at our area hospitals, not figures of deaths that are usually weeks or months out of date. Florida only reports the cumulative number of hospitalizations from the beginning, which is about as useful as the cumulative number of cases. What would be more useful is a timely report of the number of COVID-19 admissions and discharges, plus deaths at each hospital. During April and May when there were many COVID-19 cases in SE Florida a spokesman for The Villages hospital was quoted as saying that there were no capacity issues at the hospital here because there were few or no COVID-19 patients. I haven't heard any statements lately about available resources at the hospitals in our area. There is a dashboard that is attempting to quantify hospital bed and ICU availability, but it is not produced by the state. Experience

[Slapnut]

You have bought in to their scare tactics. It's people like you that keep the fake media reporting misleading information to scare you into doing what they want you to do. WAKE UP