Believe it or not, there are some people out there who think the coronavirus is a hoax.

Yes, even though over 13 million people have contracted it and more than half a million have died, these people refuse to admit that the virus exists.

This would mean that all the world’s doctors and patients gathered in a super-secret but mighty big location in 2019 and conspired to scare the world into thinking there was a deadly disease on the loose.

Sounds dumb, right? Well, it is.

But, unlike the tooth fairy, Covid-19 does not give a hamster’s ass if you believe in it or not.

30YO Died After Going to a COVID-19 Party Hosted by an Infected Person to ‘Beat the Disease’

A 30-year-old man from Texas died from Covid-19 after attending a “Covid-19 party” hosted by an infected person.

If you’re wondering what the heck a Covid-19 party is, it’s exactly what it sounds like.

A coronavirus party is a gathering of rational individuals involving an infected person with the intention of catching the virus.

This man had attended one because he thought the virus was a hoax, said Dr Jane Appleby, chief medical officer at the Methodist Hospital in San Antonio.

“Someone will be diagnosed with the disease, and they’ll have a party to invite their friends over to see if they can beat the disease,” she said.

“He thought the disease was a hoax. He thought he was young and invincible and wouldn’t get affected by the disease.”

While the man later realised the disease was all too real, it was too late.

“One of the things that was heart-wrenching that he said to his nurse was, ‘You know, I think I made a mistake’”, Dr Appleby said.

More Young People Getting Infected

Many young people think they are safe from the dangers of the disease because of their age, but this isn’t the case.

While early data from China showed that old people were the most susceptible to the disease, recent trends indicate that young people are at risk too, as many young patients in the US have required hospitalization or even intensive care.

It may also increase a young patient’s risk of stroke, even if they are otherwise healthy.

Dr Appleby added that young patients often don’t realise how sick they are.

“They don’t look really sick. But when you check their oxygen levels and their lab tests, they’re really sicker than they appear,” she said, calling on people to take the risks seriously.

The Situation In America

Calling the Covid-19 outbreak in America “serious” would be like saying Singaporeans would be a little displeased if there were another circuit breaker: it’s a massive understatement.

At the time of writing, the US has 3,413,995 Covid-19 cases, with 137,782 deaths.

While some states like New York have managed to contain the outbreak, other states like Arizona, Florida, and Texas are experiencing a second wave of the virus.

The lifting of stay-at-home orders are part of the reason for the surge, but there are other factors in play, such as:

• a lack of social and health infrastructure
• a slowdown in testing rates
• individual risk-taking behaviour

As you know, many Americans refuse to wear a mask because they view it as an infringement on their freedom.

These factors, along with reopening the country, have led to the steep increase in cases in these states.

While we’re lucky that the only people in Singapore who object to wearing masks are Sovereigns, we should not take the virus lightly, even if we’re young and healthy.

As Covid-19 has shown over the last six months, it does not discriminate: no one is safe from this scary disease.