This is heartbreaking but not unexpected. People know when they go into certain occupations that they are taking on higher risk, and this is in fact what sometimes draws them. I know I am taking this risk because I can and many others cannot. My 4th son was seeking some adventure and adrenaline rush when he enlisted in the USMC. There was probably some prove-my-masculinity motive in there as well. But I absolutely take him at face value when he said he was thinking of the very few people who stepped in to protect him from his drunken abusive parents in Romania, and tied that directly to the idea "I want to fight for people who can't fight for themselves." I am old and tearing up at everything now, but I still get misty at this. He is my most knuckleheaded, poor-judgement son - by far - but still has these shining moments that shame me.
Researchers found that those working protective service occupations had the highest COVID-19 death rate of any occupation, at 60.3 deaths per 100,000 workers. That was more than twice as high as overall workers’ COVID-19 death rate in 2020, which was 28.6 per 100,000
We (by which I mean conservatives, here) maybe got too focused on what effect the government actions had on things, rather than on what effect the disease itself had. The government did come down heavily in ways that hurt some sectors unnecessarily and unfairly. Yet sometimes it was the disease, not the government. People went to bars and restaurants less - and they still are - of their own caution, not because of the government. The government did not close those bars, Covid itself did. International travel is still way down, even though it is now allowed. And frankly, The Chinese Communist Party should still be at the back of your thoughts in all these discussions more than Biden or Fauci. We focus on them because they are nearer and we are more likely to be able to do something about them.
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I joined the fire and rescue service during the pandemic, just at the time that there was coming to be a critical shortage of medical and ambulance workers, paramedics and nurses. My son joined with me. It was just because there was a need for people to do it, and those of us who could should step up. It has proven to be a wonderful and fulfilling thing but it started as the sense that we who were relatively fit and strong should run our hazards fairly, and not push the risks off onto others. The disease was and is a fact; we can't change that. We can change our choices about how we react to the facts.
My fire chief (who is also a paramedic) has had COVID three times. I don't know if I've had it, though I've been quite sick at times compared to other years of my life. I have also participated in helping to save several lives, being there for people who really needed someone to be there. A shorter life but a better one can be a wise choice; and contemplation of what is most worthy of honor is the best guide to what is most right.
"Researchers found that those working protective service occupations had the highest COVID-19 death rate of any occupation, at 60.3 deaths per 100,000 workers."
Considering that people in those jobs are generally in much better shape than average...not obese, not all that old...then the age-and-condition-adjusted Covid risk for those jobs must be considerably *more* than 2X the general population.
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