You are not going to die from COVID-19!

Despite what the complicit, liberal media and the Orwellian government tells you, the science we have learned the past nine months does not give you a death sentence if you contract COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and common sense do not condemn you to 6 feet under.

In fact, just the opposite is true according to scientific data. I know there will be individuals out there with an M.D. or Ph.D. or some other alphabet soup behind their name calling me a murderer and an economic zealot. But they are wrong. The data is 0.2% fatalities.

Those in high-risk demographics in our population with underlying health conditions are the most susceptible, just like with most other viruses, and those people need to be protected. People older than 70 with diabetes, obesity or heart problems should take necessary precautions to protect themselves. However, it doesn’t mean the government should be allowed to mandate that you cannot invite other households to your Thanksgiving dinner table.

The worldwide data confirms 95% of people who catch the novel coronavirus are asymptomatic, which means they have the virus but don’t have any symptoms — and certainly don’t die from it. Some people may get some flu-like symptoms, aches and pains and fatigue. But they won’t be going to the hospital or the morgue.

The liberal media, governors like Pontius Polis and your Summit County commissioners want to implant fear and loathing in your brain and heart by spreading this coronaphobia propaganda. Their fearmongering allows them to control you, your family, your business, your school and your church. They want you to be dependent on them. They want you to shut up and get in line.

Our county commissioners, town councils and county health bureaucrats are afraid to step out of line and give you the First Amendment civil liberties that you deserve. Will you willingly sacrifice your freedoms? Or will you stand up, band together and voice your refusal to bow down to the powers that be?

Ski areas, business owners, parents of school-age children, churches and civic groups all need to say enough is enough. We will not allow the media and all levels of government to deprive us of our God-given rights to individual liberty.

This virus cannot be controlled. It can be managed, but it cannot be controlled. This virus is part of our culture, our society and our daily routine. We must learn to live around it, not live in fear and loathing of it.

As has been scientifically proven, the choice between open bars or death doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has shown how personal responsibility is a more powerful public health solution than government lockdowns.

The cost of lockdowns is horrendous. Tens of thousands of businesses close, and many will never reopen. The human health costs are worse with suicides, substance abuse, depression disorders and child abuse all on the rise.

Our repressive Summit County commissioners think lockdowns mandated from on high are good for us little people because they don’t think we’re smart enough to take care of our own lives. They should pay more attention to the Great Barrington Declaration, which was recently signed by 43,000 medical and health professionals advocating focused protection. Let’s not have the cure be worse than the disease.

Until the reality of viral spread without government mandates is accepted and a certain level herd immunity is attained naturally and with a vaccine, political leaders will feel justified in keeping schools and businesses closed. Nothing short of inhumane and self-defeating lockdowns can stop the spread of this virus, so the most sensible path forward is to learn to coexist with it.

We were never guaranteed a risk-free existence, and the government can’t deliver one. It’s time for Summit County to get back to work, back to school and back to church.

Kim McGahey’s column “Conservative Common Sense” publishes Tuesdays in the Summit Daily News. McGahey is a real estate broker, tea party activist and Republican candidate. He has lived in Breckenridge since 1978. Contact him at kimmcgahey@gmail.com.