Speaker 1: Good morning, peeps, and welcome to wokay f Daily with
Speaker 1: me your Girl, Danielle Moody, recording live once again from
Speaker 1: our pod stream studios in Times Square. Folks, there are
Speaker 1: a couple of stories that I really want to bring
Speaker 1: your attention to because I am feeling this overwhelming sense
Speaker 1: of doom, as I'm certain that many of you are feeling.
Speaker 1: But there are a couple of things that I think
Speaker 1: are worthy of note. We're going to have our in
Speaker 1: depth conversation as we do every week with our friend
Speaker 1: in house, doctor doctor Jonathan Metzel, to go through where
Speaker 1: we are with the latest in COVID nineteen. One of
Speaker 1: the things that I brought up to him and which
Speaker 1: we'll discuss in a bit is a Reddit thread that
Speaker 1: came through a Utah I see you doctor in discussing
Speaker 1: how COVID nineteen is affecting young people children essentially infants, toddlers, teens,
Speaker 1: and all kids that fall in between, how they are
Speaker 1: getting sicker, how they are dying, how they are ending
Speaker 1: up with long COVID and other respiratory issues, cardiac issues
Speaker 1: that they're going to be dealing with for the rest
Speaker 1: of their lives. We are seeing numbers in pediatric hospitals
Speaker 1: that are boiling over. And what does that mean? Well,
Speaker 1: it means that they will not have the ability or
Speaker 1: the capacity to deal with other injuries that come in
Speaker 1: that children have that at one time could have seemed
Speaker 1: like they were not life threatening, but because they will
Speaker 1: not be able to get the immediate care that they need,
Speaker 1: it will become life threatening. What does it mean to
Speaker 1: live in a country that only cares about fetuses, but
Speaker 1: once those children are breathing oxygen, living and walking, that
Speaker 1: this country doesn't actually give a fuck? What does it
Speaker 1: mean that we are living in a time when you
Speaker 1: can ban access to abortion before a woman even knows
Speaker 1: that they are pregnant right at six weeks, which, let
Speaker 1: me just be very clear, is missing roughly two periods, right,
Speaker 1: two menstrual cycles, and that you have in the same time,
Speaker 1: these very same people who then are protesting in front
Speaker 1: of hospitals and at school boards, threatening health professionals so
Speaker 1: that your kids can't remain safe while they are at school.
Speaker 1: How can you be at once protesting the right to
Speaker 1: life and then denying actual living human beings that same
Speaker 1: fucking right. I feel insane, And so if you feel
Speaker 1: crazy to know that you are not alone. We're living
Speaker 1: at a time right where you have Republicans that want
Speaker 1: to say that democrats are taking away all of your rights,
Speaker 1: taking away your right to pray, taking away your right
Speaker 1: to infect as many fucking people as possible with a
Speaker 1: killer virus because we are mandating that you wear a
Speaker 1: goddamn mask. There are not a lot of things that
Speaker 1: can save us right now except for common sense, which
Speaker 1: I recognize is not actually common right because you have
Speaker 1: a lawsuit that I talked about yesterday of a woman
Speaker 1: that wanted to bring a lawsuit against the hospital where
Speaker 1: her husband lay on a ventilator from COVID nineteen because
Speaker 1: they won't give her husband horse medication. What in the
Speaker 1: entire fuck when I say that I believe that there
Speaker 1: was a tear in the universe, when I believe that
Speaker 1: we are living in some alternate dimension or some mix
Speaker 1: of purgatory hell and the apocalypse, this is what the
Speaker 1: fuck I am talking about. Where you would rather sue
Speaker 1: a hospital which is not a veterinary clinic, for not
Speaker 1: prescribing horse medication, right, and then at that same time,
Speaker 1: there are motherfuckers that are protesting outside that very same
Speaker 1: hospital saying that they have a right not to wear
Speaker 1: a mask. This is indeed hell, and I want people
Speaker 1: to wake up, right. We want to believe that we
Speaker 1: are better than we are. We want to believe that
Speaker 1: fifty percent of the population isn't pro death and that
Speaker 1: they are literally protesting the right to die and take
Speaker 1: as many people with you as possible. You know, Jonathan
Speaker 1: brings up something funny at the end of our interview,
Speaker 1: and when he says that, you know, in all of
Speaker 1: these pandemic movies right that you watch, whether it's World
Speaker 1: War Z or you know, just whatever apocalyptic style, walking Dead,
Speaker 1: whatever type of show or movie, what is happening right
Speaker 1: now would be that instead of the hero right in
Speaker 1: the movie, or the tribe or the group of people
Speaker 1: trying to rehabilitate humanity after a killer virus or alien invasion,
Speaker 1: that in this reality that we are living in, those
Speaker 1: people would be pro zombie. They would be pro walking death.
Speaker 1: They would be going out to try and turn themselves
Speaker 1: into zombies at alarming rates because they believe that that
Speaker 1: somehow is the future. It sounds stupid, right, it sounds
Speaker 1: fucking crazy, And that is exactly what people in this
Speaker 1: country are doing right now. What is alarming me is this,
Speaker 1: This is the first week that children across the country,
Speaker 1: all of them, right, you know, from elementary school all
Speaker 1: the way up into higher education, are back to school.
Speaker 1: What do we know to be true? Right? Even though
Speaker 1: we know that things have fluctuated and changed, what do
Speaker 1: we know for certain is that at any time that
Speaker 1: there is large gatherings right of people that within the
Speaker 1: four to six weeks post time, there are spikes in
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen. So what can we understand to be true
Speaker 1: about the middle of October? It is going to be
Speaker 1: a shit show on top of a shittier show. Why
Speaker 1: is that, Oh, because we're already experiencing COVID nineteen surges
Speaker 1: in red states across this country. Right where you're hearing
Speaker 1: that if Tennessee were to be its own country, it
Speaker 1: would be the second worst country of COVID nineteen in
Speaker 1: the world. Right. So here's the thing. You have Texas
Speaker 1: mandating that no one can marit wear a mask. You
Speaker 1: got Florida doing the same. You got every red state
Speaker 1: deciding to be a copycat of who can be the worst? Right?
Speaker 1: Who can be the worst on top of the worst.
Speaker 1: That's where we are. Well in four to six weeks, folks,
Speaker 1: you were going to be overwhelmed with the amount of
Speaker 1: stories of children dying, of children being on ventilators, of
Speaker 1: them having long term illness. Right that, guess what Republicans
Speaker 1: are going to ensure that. Guess what insurance companies won't
Speaker 1: have to fucking cover because that's what they care about.
Speaker 1: At the end of the day. They care about corporations.
Speaker 1: They care about making sure that shareholders and CEOs get
Speaker 1: the most right while you get the least. They care
Speaker 1: about control. They don't care about life. And so I
Speaker 1: want us to reframe the conversation that we have around abortion,
Speaker 1: because it isn't about the right to life. It isn't
Speaker 1: about new life coming in because if you gave a
Speaker 1: fuck right about life, then it wouldn't just be when
Speaker 1: those cells are forming themselves in uterus. It would actually
Speaker 1: be about life outside of the womb. It would be
Speaker 1: making sure that our children are safe, right. It would
Speaker 1: be making sure that they have an education, that they
Speaker 1: have access to health care, that they have nutrition. In
Speaker 1: every one of the things that I just mentioned. Republicans
Speaker 1: have actively created campaigns and policies to work in opposition
Speaker 1: to your children being well. It's why yesterday I walked
Speaker 1: you through pieces of this cradle to grave legislation, that
Speaker 1: this omnibus of a social safety net that Democrats are
Speaker 1: trying to put together. But what they also need to
Speaker 1: put together is their messaging that frames or Republicans as
Speaker 1: who they are. They are people that don't care about Americans.
Speaker 1: They are people who don't care about workers rights, women's rights,
Speaker 1: lgbt Q rights, voter rights, are anyone having rights outside
Speaker 1: of the corporations, to force you into some type of
Speaker 1: new fengled, indentured servitude where you should just be grateful
Speaker 1: that you have a job. Who cares if you're able
Speaker 1: to go to the bathroom, Who cares if you're able
Speaker 1: to have a lunch break, Who cares if your work
Speaker 1: too exhaustion? Right, so long as you should be blessed
Speaker 1: and feel thankful that you have this job, That's what
Speaker 1: Republicans want. That's the world that they want us to
Speaker 1: live in, folks. Coming up next is my conversation with
Speaker 1: our friend doctor Jonathan Metzel, talking again raising the alarm
Speaker 1: about where we are with this pandemic and what it
Speaker 1: is that we need to be paying attention to peep,
Speaker 1: so you know that I am always so happy. While
Speaker 1: I don't know if talking about COVID nineteen on a
Speaker 1: regular basis every single week makes me happy, but I
Speaker 1: am happy that our guide, doctor Jonathan Metzel, our in
Speaker 1: house doctor here on woke F Daily, has always been
Speaker 1: by our side over the last eighteen months, walking us
Speaker 1: through where we are, where we're going. Jonathan, you now
Speaker 1: right now are in Tennessee. You are back at your university,
Speaker 1: teaching in person, and so I'm interested to hear how
Speaker 1: things have been going for you there. But before we
Speaker 1: jump into what's happening in Tennessee, I want to bring
Speaker 1: you this read, Jonathan, that is posted in the Salt
Speaker 1: Lake Tribune by an ICU doctor that it works with children.
Speaker 1: And this is what he wrote, and this was verified
Speaker 1: by the Salt Lake Tribune to make sure that the
Speaker 1: doctor was who he said. That he was operating under
Speaker 1: anonymity because of course, in these United States, we now
Speaker 1: threaten doctors, We now want to physically assault doctors if
Speaker 1: for trying to keep us safe. And this is what
Speaker 1: he wrote. Hey, there, friendly neighborhood ICU doctor reporting he's
Speaker 1: talking about a death of a teenager that has happened.
Speaker 1: Kids are getting sicker this time around, and it is
Speaker 1: happening more frequently. This includes newborns, toddlers, and teens. Has
Speaker 1: not spared any of them. There are multiple cases on
Speaker 1: the ventilator, which is not something that happened routinely in
Speaker 1: children across the country. We are seeing children with respiratory illness, shock, terrible, myocdartis,
Speaker 1: and strokes in the setting of COVID. Unfortunately, he continues
Speaker 1: to write, we are also seeing SPY and other viruses,
Speaker 1: including RSV spikes that are nearing levels of what associate
Speaker 1: with a bad winter flu season. This is overwhelming pediatric units.
Speaker 1: At some point this weekend, pediatric ICU patients were spending
Speaker 1: time in the emergency department waiting for a bed, and
Speaker 1: that is not a safe situation. He goes on to
Speaker 1: say that pediatric units at capacity is insane. There are
Speaker 1: patients that had delayed transferreds from outlying emergency rooms as
Speaker 1: well as because they could not be accepted and transported
Speaker 1: in a timely matter. He said, when this happens, negative
Speaker 1: things occur. Jonathan, what is your reaction to this thread
Speaker 1: by this doctor who was talking about his particular situation
Speaker 1: in Utah, but using it as framing for what is
Speaker 1: happening across the country in children's hospitals and pediatric units, well,
Speaker 1: certainly there's so much happening in real time now. I mean,
Speaker 1: this is happening now, and so part of the issue is,
Speaker 1: as we know, there's a lot of disinformation out there,
Speaker 1: the research apparatus is slow to catch up. But I
Speaker 1: would say, just as somebody who's obviously studying and teaching
Speaker 1: about about this issue, it makes sense to me to
Speaker 1: hear that for a couple of reasons. I mean, number
Speaker 1: one is that of course we know kids under twelve
Speaker 1: are not vaccinated, so there they become de facto the
Speaker 1: highest risk, and then the delta variant delivers a much
Speaker 1: more potent, potentially debilitating load of virus. Right the viral
Speaker 1: load is much much higher. And then kids are also
Speaker 1: going back into schools, and so I think right now
Speaker 1: is really the very important time to be tracking stories
Speaker 1: like this because it just it just for me at least,
Speaker 1: And again I want to be careful because I because
Speaker 1: you know, you don't know what's going out online and
Speaker 1: things like that. But I would just say it makes
Speaker 1: sense to me. I mean, kids are vulnerable because they're unvaccinated.
Speaker 1: It's a very fraught time, and they're going back into
Speaker 1: schools right now, and so I would just say that
Speaker 1: this is a story we have to track very closely
Speaker 1: and see what happens. The other the other important part
Speaker 1: of what you just said is that it's not just
Speaker 1: about kids getting sick right now. There are two other
Speaker 1: major issues. Number one is that we know that even
Speaker 1: mild cases can lead to long covid U. One of
Speaker 1: the words in that piece was myocarditis, which I think
Speaker 1: is very important, long term cardiovascular effects, long term lung effects.
Speaker 1: And so even if kids aren't getting sick, they're still
Speaker 1: at risk of a long term stabilitating illness. That that's
Speaker 1: number one. And then two, of course is before the pandemic.
Speaker 1: We use pediatric ICUs for everything else that kids get
Speaker 1: sick of. Often thinks that they that they survive, but
Speaker 1: I mean kids have all kinds of other you know,
Speaker 1: you just name to think of the spectrum of other
Speaker 1: kinds of illnesses that get kids sick. And if there's
Speaker 1: no space and those ICUs, things that are preventable illnesses
Speaker 1: all of a sudden become much bigger risks. And so
Speaker 1: this is a very front time and particularly as kids
Speaker 1: go back to school. You know, one of the things
Speaker 1: that this doctor had written too, he said this, simple
Speaker 1: things like a minor headbleed after falling from a trampoline
Speaker 1: or small spleen laceration after a car accident can turn
Speaker 1: into catastrophes when patients are not being taken care of immediately.
Speaker 1: So to your point, he was bringing up that same
Speaker 1: issue that we are using this pediatric wards as now
Speaker 1: these overflow COVID wards. But what happens to those kids
Speaker 1: that are coming in with other issues that aren't immediately
Speaker 1: being taken care of. What happens to them? Right, and
Speaker 1: they're sitting on these beds in emergency rooms waiting to
Speaker 1: be seen because we have so many children that have
Speaker 1: pressing needs barreling down on them because they've contracted COVID.
Speaker 1: And this is a bigger, untold story of the pandem.
Speaker 1: I mean, m I studied gun violence, right, and gun
Speaker 1: death went up last year? Um And why did gun death? Well,
Speaker 1: there were more guns, there were more shootings, but also
Speaker 1: in many parts of the country, who got shot in
Speaker 1: the arm or the leg um that wasn't fatal two
Speaker 1: or three years ago um. But but you're going to
Speaker 1: bleed up because there's no there's no er, there's no ICU.
Speaker 1: So um gunshots that that that weren't fatal on you know,
Speaker 1: on their face um really became fatal because because there
Speaker 1: were there were no beds. And so really this story
Speaker 1: is not just about COVID deaths, which is what we're tracking.
Speaker 1: It's also like, what's the other impact on our incredibly
Speaker 1: burdened healthcare system? And so I just think it's a
Speaker 1: very important time for people out there to think about prevention,
Speaker 1: preventative medicine. I got my flu shot the other day,
Speaker 1: you know, because I could never get enough shots. But
Speaker 1: I mean just other things like that, because it's just
Speaker 1: we we have in our minds and assumption of oh,
Speaker 1: that's something medicine can fix for right now, medicine is
Speaker 1: you know, hanging by U dental flos in a way.
Speaker 1: And so you know, so in a way, the other
Speaker 1: issue of this pandemic is what's not getting treated in
Speaker 1: a way that it used to. That is it for
Speaker 1: Today's Woke, a f daily podcast. To hear more from
Speaker 1: today's show, including my full interview with doctor Jonathan Mexel,
Speaker 1: support me on Patreon at patreon dot com. Slash Woke
Speaker 1: a f Power to the people and to all the people. Power,
Speaker 1: get woke and stay woke as fuck.