It was a year ago that the coronavirus crisis was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
It came a day after Michigan confirmed its first cases of COVID-19 – and no one, experts included, knew exactly what lay ahead.
In the first days and weeks, there were a significant number of misconceptions, including misconceptions by health experts and government officials and the general public.
Below are some ways we were completely wrong about COVID-19 and how the pandemic would unfold.
Misconception No. 1: It is not worse than flu.
‘So 37,000 Americans died last year from the common flu. That is an average of between 27,000 and 70,000 a year, “then-President Donald Trump tweeted on March 9, 2020.” Nothing is closed, life and the economy continue. Currently, there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about it! ”
The COVID-19 pandemic appears to have been one of the deadliest events in U.S. history, with more than 527,000 deaths so far, and an estimated 1.8 million hospitalized.
Misconception no. 2: Washing hands and surfaces is the most important prevention.
Experts initially assumed that the primary form of COVID-19 transmission gets the virus through infected surfaces such as door handles, and this is how most respiratory diseases are spread.
In addition to removing social crowds and avoiding crowds, health officials have erased the importance of hand washing and everything that touches people.
A Grand Rapids doctor even created a video urging viewers to leave groceries outside on a back porch or in the garage for three days before bringing them into the house. If this was not possible, he showed a surgical sterilization technique for use in groceries. The video was viewed 23 million times in one week.
The doctor in Michigan says that groceries should, if possible, stay outside for three days, show how to disinfect
In April, researchers increasingly realized that the original theory was wrong and that the primary infection problem was probably airborne droplets containing viruses.
The federal website Centers for Disease Control now says that touching surfaces is not thought to be a common way COVID-19 spreads, and that the primary mode of transmission is inhaling the same air as someone who is contagious.
Misconception no. 3: No masking required.
In the first weeks of the pandemic, health experts actively discouraged the American public from buying and / or wearing masks.
One reason: the pandemic disrupted supply chains and created a shortage of masks for health workers, and experts did not want to exacerbate the shortage. Another factor: Since experts did not realize that COVID-19 is primarily transmitted through the air, they thought that the pressure to mask Americans would present more problems than it was worth.
“Culturally, the US was not really willing to wear masks,” unlike some countries in Asia where it is more common, Dr. Peter Chin-Hong said in a June post on the University of California’s website.
On April 3, President Trump announced that the CDC recommended that all Americans wear a mask outside the home. Trump, however, stressed that the recommendation was voluntary and added, “I do not think I’m going to do this,” which is starting a political battle over masks that continues to this day.
Misunderstanding no. 4: Asymptomatic transmission is not a big deal.
Initially, experts concluded that the key to controlling COVID-19 was Infectious Disease Control 101: Identify the sick and isolate them so that they cannot infect others.
So they were really shaken when it turned out that people infected with COVID-19 can transmit the disease for a few days before they get sick, and some people who are infected never show symptoms but are still contagious.
“I think the biggest thing with COVID that forms all of these clues on masks is that we can not know who is infected,” Chin-Hong said in the June blog post. ‘You can not look into a crowd and say, oh, that person should wear a mask. There are many asymptomatic infections, so everyone should wear a mask. ”
Misconception no. 5: our fans will run out.
At the beginning of the pandemic, people were very loudly afraid that the pandemic would reveal a crippling shortage of fans. “There are not enough fans to deal with coronavirus,” a New York Times headline of March 19, 2020 said.
But doctors soon realized that many coronavirus patients were not doing well on ventilators, and that the machines needed to be used sparingly.
This was accompanied by another discovery: although coronavirus was initially seen as a serious but typical respiratory infection, but it appears that the virus can lead to a wide range of medical problems, from kidney and / or heart damage, to blood clots. causing strokes, to prolonged inflammatory problems, to cognitive and neurological symptoms.
Misconception no. 6: It will take more than a year to develop a vaccine.
In early April 2020, the Coronavirus adviser of the White House, dr. Anthony Fauci, predicts that it would take 12 to 18 months to develop a vaccine.
To speed up the process, on May 15, the Trump administration unveiled Operation Warp Speed, a public-private partnership to accelerate the development and manufacture of coronavirus vaccines.
Which also helped speed up the process: Coronavirus was so rampant that clinical trials went faster than expected, as enough people in the control group became infected quickly, providing the necessary contrast to those undergoing the vaccinations. received.
The Pfizer vaccine was the first to receive emergency use approval from the federal Food and Drug Administration. The first shipments of the vaccine – manufactured in Michigan – were distributed on December 13, just nine months from the start of the pandemic.
How Pfizer’s Coronavirus Vaccine Was Manufactured and Distributed from Michigan Plant in Record Time
Misconception No. 7: It will disappear with Easter. No, by summer. But definitely against the fall.
Especially this past spring, it was not just President Trump who predicted a quick end to the pandemic. A year ago, almost no one predicted that the crisis would last so long and cause such upheavals.
“I am a very, very optimistic person,” said Stephanie Hartwell, a sociologist and dean of Wayne State University’s College of Arts and Sciences. ‘But the biggest lesson I’ve learned over the last year is that hopeful thinking does not always work. If you are an optimist, you are wrong. ‘
Misconception 8: Rural communities need not worry.
Last March and April, COVID-19 plagued several major metropolitan areas, including New York, Detroit, New Orleans, Boston, and Chicago. The conventional wisdom then was that the pandemic was basically a threat in densely populated areas.
The next 11 months drove away the idea, as large and small communities were hit hard by the pandemic. At this point, the provinces of Michigan with the highest COVID mortality rates in recent years are Baraga, Iron and Ontonagon, all sparsely populated provinces in the Upper Peninsula.
Misconception no. 9: We will run out of toilet paper.
Toilet paper was hard to find for a few weeks. But we did not run out.
Read more on MLive:
COVID-19 is reforming Michigan. This is not the first epidemic to do so.
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7 Things To Know About Michigan Vaccine Expansion Eligible For Ages 50 And Older
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