It Is Disrespectful And Dangerous To Refer To COVID As A Summer Cold

Fortunately more people than ever survive COVID now.

Not only are there more survivable variants of COVID out there, but medical professionals know better treatment options.

We recently had an associate of our radio station laid out with his second case of COVID. Fortunately, he had been vaccinated, but he still got quite a dose. In relating his story someone commented the passive-aggressive, "I too have a summer cold".  Sorry, but I'm not going to let misinformation like that stand.

COVID and the common cold are two different things, just like cancer and heart disease are two different things. Here's some info from the Mayo Clinic:

Both COVID-19 and the common cold are caused by viruses. COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2, while the common cold is most often caused by rhinoviruses

It's about the different causes and even more about the different outcomes. There are now 6.32 million deaths attributed to COVID (1,333 in Lubbock as of 6/24). One of those deaths was a close, personal friend of mine. A friend who made a habit of feeding people and caring for mentally disabled people. A friend who left kids behind. THAT, is why I'm not tolerating this b.s. of conflating COVID with the common cold.

If you want to point out your ignorance on the internet (I'm pretty sure you don't know more than the Mayo Clinic) you won't do it while those of us still grieve the loss of our friends. It's not playful, funny, or "just trolling", it's inconsiderate to the families that have lost someone. Too many people paid the ultimate price of us not knowing exactly what COVID was, and is, to let terrible little comments like that go.