It's not really a bubble.

Regardless if it is called Covid-19, or a garden variety Coronavirus, I had something twice. I am willing to concede that the symptoms I experienced were not unusual for other viruses. The "not smelling" thing was sensationalized, but it is true that other viruses, even the flu cause identical symptoms. My point is that I acknowledge something real occurred. Heck, the emails between Fauci and company show that they were working on something in Wuhan.

Think of it like this, each year, the flu strain is different, so in a way, each year there is a "novel" flu strain. If we leaned into it, and publicized every death due to flu, and hyper-focussed on it, I believe we could create a panic about it.

I will also concede that the PCR tests were inaccurate, but they certainly found something. It could have been old artifacts of recent infections, who knows. But something was detected. In fact, due to high threshold cycle levels, it was almost as if the PCR test was on a "fishing expedition" for something.

The thing is, while I am as skeptical as you in regards to Covid, two people I know, in their seventies, with pre-existing conditions died with something. Whether that was Covid, the flu, or the common cold remains to be seen. My point from having had whatever "it" was that for most people, it wasn't something to get panicked about.

Also, the assertion "that it isn't real" doesn't end anywhere constructive when it clearly is something. Wherever you are on the debate concerning isolation the Coronavirus, people were getting sick with something.

While I agree with your conclusion, for me, the argument that "there was no Covid-19" is missing the point. Regardless of whether or not it was real, only a very small fraction of our society died from it. My contention is that "yes, it is real, I had it, and as a 50+ year old diabetic, I survived it, and it certainly wasn't worth posting my cold/flu symptoms online..

I agree that the reaction was far more extreme than the threat.

My analogy still holds. In the movie Talladega Nights, there is a scene where Will Farrell jumps out of his smoking car, is running around tearing off his clothes claiming he was on fire. At the very least, the car was smoking, so something happened. Whether that virus was novel or not, people were getting sick. But, the reaction was ridiculous.