Despite the number of individuals infected by the novel coronavirus and the increasing deaths as a result, individuals nationwide continue to dismiss the virus as a hoax. As the pandemic continues to spread across the U.S., stories of those who openly denied the virus only to be infected by it are increasing.
While some of these stories come from individuals who survived the virus, many of them follow the deaths of those who did not. The virus is far from over and these stories shed light on the importance of abiding by COVID-19 safety measures, including wearing a mask. In the list of those who denied the virus only to be infected is Tony Tenpenny, a Republican former Nashville Council Member who died Sunday.
An active Donald Trump supporter and anti-masker, Tenpenny represented the 16th Nashville Metro Council from 2011 to 2015. He ran for reelection again last year but lost to current Council Member Ginny Welsch. According to The Tennessean, he died after being hospitalized for more than a month and after being placed on a ventilator earlier this month.
“It is with a very heavy heart that I let you all know, Tony passed away yesterday. Please pray for me, our son Ira and family as we process this tragic loss,” Robbie Tenpenny, his wife, said in a Sunday post on Facebook.
Prior to his diagnosis, Teneppy mocked COVID-19 and its severity openly on social media. On Facebook, he not only questioned the use of masks but shared articles criticizing safety measures and lockdowns in place by states in addition to other conspiracy theories calling the virus a political tactic.
Source: Anti-mask, pro-Trump lawmaker dies of COVID-19 after mocking the pandemic on social media
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Our youngest is still recovering, months later, due to her being “a long hauler” with problems continuing long after fighting off the virus. All, because the COVID-19 floor didn’t follow the hospital’s protocols and keep the patient room doors closed.
Now, our eldest is having symptoms, as her hospital has them using non-N-95 masks repeatedly, causing her to become exposed and symptomatic, but not severe enough to require hospitalization.
As for the virus, I’ve been referring to it as the “now what” virus, as there are no linear or logical progression of symptoms, at random, some system in the body gets attacked, mostly by the immune system. The virus causes the innate immune system to malfunction, which is a fairly standard trick for a virus, but then the adaptive immune system seems to partially war against itself and interfere with some types of interferon. That results in a feedback loop within the adaptive immune system, resulting in an out of scope response that’s highly injurious to the body.
Alveoli get shredded, clotting factors grow depleted, capillaries clog up in random parts of the body and doctor is scrambling to address each system as it becomes injured – either by the virus or by the cytokine storm.
But, we’ve gotten better in responding. The last protocol I reviewed was spike some dexamethasone, keep the heparin flowing to prevent DIC, monitor and address as necessary, with IgG2 inhalation shows promise, possibly with igG3, that’s actively being studied.