I was alerted to this groundswell of fear mongering courtesy of the ever-reliable local app, "NextDoor," purveyor of missing pet postings, petty grievances, and panic porn.

The neighbor who posted this digital call to inaction accompanied it with this, a graphic that also started popping up all over Twitter.

As it turns out, spelling is hard.

Screaming at the top of your lungs and waving your hands in the air is easy!

I suspect he learned it from our leaders.

The misspelling did not go unnoticed, at least not on Twitter.

Devalues the message...

What message might that be?

...the fact that it is a childhood illness.

You know what else devalues the message? Facts.

Yet they keep leaning hard into this one.

Well, we don't.

Not so sure about you.

But, but, kids are getting sick!!!!

Youth hospitalizations are skyrocketing. Skyrocketing, I tells ya!!!!!

On a more hopeful note...

Hopeful = accurate.

...children continue to represent a small percentage of those being hospitalized with COVID-19: An average of over 9,400 people of all ages were admitted per day during the same week in December. And many doctors say the youngsters coming in now seem less sick than those seen during the delta surge over the summer.

Oh, that kind of skyrocket.

But what about the hospitals? It's insane! They are overwhelmed!!!

Consider me inadequately whelmed.

This is one of those things that people say without a moment's hesitation as if to will it to truth.

Here is New York State's hospitalization use rate including a Covid breakout.

Ah, but what about ICU beds?

How does this data compare to national averages of utilization rates over time?

How about here in Arlington, VA where my neighbor was sounding the local alarm?

Eh.

A handful of local hospitals near me. It varies quite a bit among them, some pretty tight, some not, but overall not too dissimilar to anywhere else.

* * *

So why the freakout?

Because we have grown tired of their hysterics.

Hospitals are not being overrun. There are some localized problems, but there are always localized problems.

People are getting sick, but people have always gotten sick.

Life is risky, but life has always been risky.

Take the precautions you are comfortable with. Permit others to do the same.