Marjorie Taylor Greene Compares Covid-19 To melanoma, right here’s The Twittersphere Response

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) tweeted that “each year greater than 600,000 americans within the ... [+] US die from cancer” and “not a single college has closed.” (image via Win McNamee/Getty pictures)

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On Saturday morning, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in comparison Covid-19 and melanoma in a 4-tweet thread. There was at the least one itty bitty issue with the thread: Covid-19 and cancer don't seem to be the same component.

bound Covid-19 and cancer both birth with the letter “c.” however so does cummerbund and camel. they are also both health considerations but so is going for walks corpse syndrome. nonetheless, as that you can see in the following first two tweets of the thread, Taylor Greene brought Covid-19 and melanoma together like scorching dogs and peanut butter:

Taylor-Greene began the first tweet through announcing, “every single 12 months more than 600,000 individuals within the US die from melanoma.” ok, that’s roughly real. in accordance with the national melanoma Institute (NCI), “in 2021, an estimated 608,570 americans will die of melanoma within the u.s..” up to now so good then. No point out of house lasers, medical brown shirts or a June 31, 2021, cut-off date.

The 2nd line her tweet brought up, “The nation has certainly not once shut down.” good enough, that’s type of actual as smartly. however isn’t that like saying, “The country has by no means as soon as coated everybody fully in spaghetti sauce?” It’s a real observation but doesn’t seem to comply with from the first commentary about cancer deaths.

The third line offered a bit greater of the same, “now not a single school has closed.” once again, this is real. but how may closing schools help battle melanoma, peculiarly when melanoma rates are typically a good deal lessen amongst college-aged babies. It’s no longer like the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) where faculty-aged toddlers are very likely to lift and spread the virus to every different throughout college and then bring domestic the virus to infect their family members. Closing schools can for that reason evade faculties from fitting cauldrons to further gas the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and the pandemic. by contrast, closing colleges as a result of melanoma deaths would be similar to inserting a stick to your eye. it could serve no intention except trigger even more problems.

Her first tweet concluded with “and every yr, over 600,000 individuals, of all a while and all races, will continue to die from melanoma.” yes, her tweet had already talked about whatever like that. So why repeat that? Does this have anything to do with closing schools? unless Taylor Greene is come what may suggesting that cancer spreads like the Covid-19 coronavirus, through the air and informal contact?

Yikes, airborne transmission of melanoma from spending just quarter-hour with a person with melanoma? If cancer were to spread as promptly because the SARS-CoV-2, our society could be in severe, severe difficulty. You’d see some in fact serious bathroom paper hoarding then. looks like writer Thor Benson would haven't any issues going into lockdown mode if that have been the case:

certain, air pollution, tobacco smokes, and other airborne resources may also lead to cancer. however customarily that takes many months or even years of publicity. become Taylor Greene suggesting that there may by hook or by crook be cancer superspreader hobbies like what came about at the White apartment with Covid-19 in 2020?

earlier than you jump to conclusions about how melanoma may well be spread actor, Angela Belcamino reminded all and sundry that issues with epidermis cancer don’t get rather that jumpy:

Many responses on Twitter to Taylor Greene emphasised that melanoma isn't contagious. it is in significant half correct. You are not going to get melanoma by staying within the identical room for an hour with a person who has cancer. To be fair, though, there are cancers that can also be brought on by using infectious pathogens. as an instance, human papilloma virus (HPV) infection may cause cervical, anal, penile, and oropharyngeal melanoma. And HPV may also be transmitted via intercourse, which by the way isn't the same as sharing a bus with a person. There isn't any proof that HPV can flow within the air like the SARS-CoV-2.

The 2nd tweet in Taylor green’s thread cited that “due to the fact that #COVID19 tracking has all started, 780,000+ individuals have died in 22 mo in the US, but greater than 1 million still died of cancer. greater have died in 2021 from covid than 2020 in spite of Gov mandated frequent vaccines, mass public covering, & trillions spent.”

It is correct that over 780,000 individuals in the U.S. have already died from Covid-19. in fact, reported Covid-19 deaths are likely underestimates due to the fact no longer everyone is getting verified for Covid-19. however, it’s no longer clear even though why citing the variety of melanoma deaths would make the large variety of Covid-19 deaths any greater. Wouldn’t that be like telling a person, “don’t worry about your apartment being on fire because it is sitting on quicksand?”

the first half of the 2d line in Taylor eco-friendly’s 2d tweet is proper in that greater people have died in 2021 than 2020 from Covid-19. despite the fact, the 2d half of the 2nd tweet should still instant you to day, “cling on a second.” Deaths have been larger in 2021 likely partly because the pandemic has been going on a little longer in 2021 in comparison to 2020. while the pandemic didn’t really decide upon up within the U.S. until March 2020, this 12 months the pandemic was already in full swing as of January 1, 2021. in addition, individuals seemed a lot more diligent with social distancing and face mask wearing past on throughout the pandemic in 2020. through tons of 2021, specifically after mid-may, face mask use has develop into less and fewer widespread even though the pandemic has persevered.

the supply of vaccines is one huge element that’s distinctive about 2021 compared to 2020. The Covid-19 vaccines probably have already saved numerous lives. The problem although is vaccination prices have not yet been high adequate to make a fair greater dramatic difference. As of December three, below 60% of the U.S. population has been absolutely vaccinated towards Covid-19, neatly under the eighty%-plus herd immunity thresholds which are crucial to smash the transmission of the virus. Coupling these too low vaccination charges with premature leisure of different Covid-19 precautions like face mask wearing has resulted in the Covid-19 demise situation of 2021.

Many people are last vaccine-hesitant perhaps as a result of they don't entirely understand the threat of the Covid-19 coronavirus and the benefits of the vaccine. carrying on with with Taylor Greene’s suggestion that Covid-19 can be like cancer, here tweet suggests that americans can be quite inclined to get cancer vaccine if provided one:

Now there isn’t a vaccine against most cancers. One exception is the HPV vaccine, that may in turn cut down your risk of HPV-caused cancers like cervical and anal cancer.

Taylor Greene’s third and fourth tweets in the thread had been short on clinical talents as smartly:

As viewed above, Taylor Greene claimed that “Covid predominately objectives obese & older people.” The Covid-19 coronavirus doesn’t “goal” any person in selected. It doesn’t weigh you or ask you your age before infecting you. in case you have a nose or mouth and a respiratory tract, which you could get infected. in case you don’t have such body parts, you could be a ficus plant. whereas these with obesity or those that are older could be greater more likely to have greater severe consequences from Covid-19, each person is at risk for Covid-19 badness.

Taylor Greene also asserted that ivermectin is saving lives devoid of the facts that here's the case. As I’ve coated in the past for Forbes, ivermectin may additionally support get rid of parasitic worms from your body, there just isn’t enough scientific assist for its use towards Covid-19.

in case you couldn’t inform from her melanoma references, Taylor Greene is not a clinical medical professional or a scientist. therefore, adapting the phrases of Alanis Morissette’s tune, isn’t it ironic that she turned into tweeting that “it’s time to take a distinct strategy in accordance with the statistics” and “cease the politically driven mass hysteria.” it's time for the U.S. to take a unique approach and have politicians stop tweeting about a way to contend with Covid-19. precise scientists, clinical doctors, and public fitness consultants may still be leading the style and never politicians. on the very least, it's going to be people who can make it very clear that Covid-19 and cancer don't seem to be the equal thing.