When someone you love has died, percentages don’t mean anything. 

When nearly 3,000 people in Georgia have died, percentages don’t mean anything. 

When more than 3,700 people in Florida have died, percentages don’t mean anything. 

When 132,000 people in the United States have died, percentages don’t mean anything. 

When more than half a million people around the world have died, percentages don’t mean anything. 

COVID-19 is bad. It is killing people and many of us are to blame because we simply refuse to take it seriously and take necessary precautions to protect the people around us, the people we know and love. 

What could be more serious in this life than death? 

How can any of us be so calloused?

We encourage our readers to just pause and think. 

Reconsider. 

Consider the fact that you may have been wrong. 

All of us need to be humble.

There is a constant narrative on social media and in our community that COVID-19 is not all that bad because the percentage of people who end up dying from it is not all that high, so far as percentages go. 

It is the most odd way of thinking. 

It is such a selfish way of thinking. 

It sounds like some of you are taking solace in the fact that younger people are being infected and that drives up the numbers of positive tests while the numbers of people dying are not going up as rapidly. 

You must think about the fact that all young people have something in common: They know older people. They have parents, grandparents or great-grandparents. They may have a loved one in a retirement community or nursing home. 

Once infected, no matter how healthy you are, you run the risk of exposing every person you come in contact with. Are you willing to take a chance on the percentages when among the percentage of people you could potentially infect, could be your parent or grandparent who could get very sick or even die? 

We are facing the most contagious potentially fatal virus of our lifetimes and maybe in history. Even if the vast majority of people who contract the virus do not get very sick or are likely to recover if they do, there are so many people contracting it that the low percentage doesn’t mean that very few people die. 

This disastrous pandemic has not proliferated because of how deadly the virus is, but rather because of how contagious it is. 

The percentage argument, therefore is meaningless and calloused. 

We beg you. 

Take this seriously. 

Socially distance when well. 

Stay at home when sick. 

Don’t meet in large groups, even if you don’t feel sick. 

Wash your hands and use hand sanitizers frequently. 

Wear a mask.