For the last 30 days, we have heard our news media,
government officials, many in the medical community, and everyone else with an
opinion share how the Coronavirus would have devastating and tragic outcomes
for our society as we know it. These
scare tactics have altered the course of history and prompted good people to
turn on each other because of how they received the message. Those who questioned the numbers that were
being provided were villainized by their friends and family as well as accused
of being money hungry capitalist pigs.
The internet, Social Media and Digital Media Engagement has
played and continues to play a vital role in public sentiment of all of the
issues we face today. This experience
that has affected the world is a perfect example of why businesses should take
an active role in utilizing the World Wide Web in sharing their positive
message which will lead to higher sales, positive online reputation and a
stronger reach on the internet.
Make no mistake about the Coronavirus. It is a virus that can cause death. One death is too much and nobody wants to see
a family member or loved one suffer.
DeliveryMaxx is actually excited to see more and more reports
showing that the original predictions that the Coronavirus was and is not as
apocalyptic as the news media has tried to make us think. In fact, March 26th a few media
outlets (not the mainstream) quoted the Epidemiologist behind the highly-cited
Coronavirus model drastically downgraded his projection. Yes, this was the same person, Neil Ferguson
who projected 2.2 million would die in the United States (6027 deaths a day!)
and over 500,000 in the United Kingdom.
Now, even though many in the news media are not sharing the same report
they used to scare the public, the report is stating that hospitals will be
just fine estimating 20,000 or fewer in the U.K. and 60,000 or fewer in the
United States could die.
This morning, CNN just reported that the Coronavirus death
rate is lower than previously reported, but still deadlier than the seasonal
flu. Now we are starting to get to a
realistic talking point. Remember, as
long as you are scared you will read the news or watch the nightly
dialogue. These news outlets need to sell
advertisement and the more viewers the more money they make. CNN hasn’t completely dismissed all of their
false reporting (nobody wants to admit they are wrong), but they have moved
their estimations from as high as 15% will die after being infected to
predicting .66% of those infected with the virus will die. They have taken into account potentially
milder cases that often go undiagnosed. In
other words, out of everybody infected -- not just those sick enough to get
tested -- how many people will die? Researchers
combined that data on "infection prevalence" with public information
on reported cases and deaths, estimating the overall death rate to be about
two-thirds of 1%. That number, though,
went up in older adults, with approximately 7.8% of those 80 or older estimated
to die after infection. And deaths were estimated to be exceedingly rare in
children younger than 9, with a fatality rate of just 0.00161%. For age groups younger than 40, the death
rate was never higher than 0.16%, according to the study. Out of 1,000 young
adults infected, then, about 1 or 2 could die, with the youngest people facing
the lowest risk.
Do you think for a moment that mainstream media is catching
on that more and more people are questioning our government and the false
information our politicians have been saying are being vocal on social
media? Take for example the article written,
“Why Flattening the Curve is Overrated” in Pensford. When written on March 23rd, the
author stated he would be eviscerated by friends and family more than
ever. He wrote the article after the
huge market plunge and was accused of being a greedy person who only cared
about himself. This was said even after
he stated, “Coronavirus is exceptionally dangerous and highly contagious. We were ill-equipped to handle a
pandemic. I personally was ignorant to
the risks and to our own inability to counteract them. None of what I am about to say is rooted in a
belief that this virus isn’t terribly serious.”
The article went on to talk about social distancing provides the
illusion of control, not actual control, over the virus. He shared that there is no vaccine and
flattening the curve simply kicks the can down the road. Think about that for a second. We have shutdown many small businesses while
leaving Walmart, Best Buy, Academy and other Big Box Stores open. Fast Food drive-thru’s still have people
preparing, touching and passing out food to their consumers. I still question how one business employees
are unable to transfer the virus, but another set of employees are not. Where he was viciously attacked was when he
declared that the News Media and other ill-informed people were assuming that
100% of the population would get the virus.
Which we won’t even without a quarantine in place because that is not
how viruses work. There is no precedent
for an influenza virus spreading to 100% of the population. Next, even at a 100% infection and 1%
mortality rate, which would be 3.3 million Americans would have been worst case
scenario. He stated the willingness to
endure some economic hardship to avoid losing 3 million Americans, but how
much. The article then went on to show
the devastating affects if the unemployment were to get to 20-30% and the
additional hardships many more millions would face such as nourishment, housing
and increase crime rate. Ultimately, we
have traded one set of potential lives lost for a generation of hardship that
will ultimately lead to the loss of life.
Finally, Medical Examiners are taking the liberty of classifying
deaths of suicide, heart disease and other mortality contributors to the
Coronavirus. An article, March 24 called
Case-Fatality Rate and COVID-19 Death Characteristics in Italy which was
released by the American College of Cardiology showed a high percentage of
examples as to why the virus death totals were so high in Italy. The Media did not share these facts. Instead, they took pictures of patients on a
ventilator in Italy and said that these were infected patients in New
York. The story fit their narrative and
fear continues to drive people into irrational behavior.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do
nothing.
Today’s technology has allowed information about businesses,
political uprisings, social injustice, latest norms and anything else one can
dream of to be spread through the masses faster than the Bubonic Plague “Black
Death” that struck Europe and Asia in the 1300’s. In five years, that plague would kill almost
one-third of the continent’s population.
Could you imagine if our ancestors had social media back then? Do you think we would have seen pictures of
King Edward of England or his Court using diapers and orange peelings to cover
their faces as they walked through the streets of London? How would we react today if we faced a true
plague?
What if we had social media during the 1930’s and
1940’s? At first, Hitler and the Nazis
would have villainized the Jews for all of the hardships Germany was
facing. They would have taken the
approach to point out the poverty level and try to tie it to one race of people
when in fact it was directly from the Treaty of Versailles, signed in June 1919
at the Palace of Versailles in Paris at the end of World War I, codified peace
terms between the victorious Allies and Germany. The Treaty of Versailles held Germany
responsible for starting the war and imposed harsh penalties in terms of loss
of territory, massive reparations payments and demilitarization. Because the German People did not have the
means of mass communication; they were not able to spread their message without
physically being persecuted themselves.
Google has provided us instant facts and figures for us to make
arguments on both sides. The one who is
able to utilize social media and provide the most content that spreads to the
masses (REACH) will actually win.
Businesses need to know this when they are putting together a digital
strategy.
Before World War II, the United States was divided over the
issue of Slavery. Those who defended
slavery rose to the challenge set forth by the Abolitionist. The defenders of slavery included economics,
history, religion, legality, social good, and even humanitarianism, to further
their arguments. Defenders of slavery
argued that if all the slaves were freed, there would be widespread
unemployment and chaos. This would lead to uprisings, bloodshed, and anarchy.
They pointed to the mob's "rule of terror" during the French
Revolution and argued for the continuation of the status quo, which was
providing for affluence and stability for the slaveholding class and for all
free people who enjoyed the bounty of the slave society. At the peak of black slavery in the South,
only 6 percent of Southern whites owned slaves. If you include the white people
in the North, it means that only 1.4 percent of white Americans owned black
slaves at the height of slavery. Yet, 258,000
southerners fought and died in the Civil War which was 22.6 percent of Southern
men who were between the ages of 20-24 in 1860.
What if wives, mothers and children of the soldiers had the ability to
share their online reviews or opinions of slave ownership? Would we have had
brother fighting against their brother leading to 618,222 deaths in our
relatively new nation?
History can teach us a lot.
The utilization in today’s technology can be instrumental in how we get
our messages out to the people. Today,
more users/consumers are viewing the internet to get the majority of their
information. No matter which side of the
fence you are on in any issue; one will be able to find information to support
their position. This is important for
businesses now more than ever. They must
have a digital media strategy that includes a well-built website, optimized
social media channels directing viewers back to the website, daily post on the
social media channels, videos promoting their message, blogs written to
highlight their products or services, a positive online reputation and social
media engagement from their customers or fans.
Having the right digital media strategy will be vital for businesses to
operate in our current climate and will be a must to survive the aftermath of
these grave decisions that have been made.
DeliveryMaxx
is able to customize and create a strategy for businesses, churches, automotive
dealerships, real estate agents, medical teams, non-profits and any entity that
is trying to gain more exposure on the web.
With clients in multiple industries and across the country; we utilize
our Patent-Pending Program to develop a digital strategy that will meet the
needs of sales, service and messaging to the masses. We are one of the only digital media company
that provides a simple to use app which will allow to immediately collect
online reviews, post engaging videos and online content with branding and
advertising. The program is embedded
with digital code helping increase SEO which provides first page results on the
Search Engines. It is a tool that is
implanted with a complete digital strategy giving their clients a competitive
advantage over the competition. For more
information about DeliveryMaxx contact (888) 938-6299 or watch the DeliveryMaxx Introduction Video!
