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I'm dead if I get this virus, so I get where you are coming from. I isolated myself early before anyone told me to. I wanted us to shutdown for a couple of weeks so that the hospitals would not be overwhelmed. However, I didn't sign up for shutting everything down for months. I figured many would work from home, the sickly would stay in and others would wear masks, etc.. I didn't count on people hoarding toilet paper or bare food shelves. I never dreamed so many would lose their jobs. What I saw last weekend were lines of people waiting for food. Freaking food because they have no income. We need to open up soon before this country is destroyed. We will have hiccups, some hot spots might have to curtail activities, but we must move on.
The question that needs to be asked is whether people can go about their normal lives if 10,000+ people die every day for a week. We lost 2,400 lives yesterday despite having shelter in place orders in effect across America. If we prematurely lift social restrictions, the loss of life will be even greater. Will Americans go to movies and go on vacations when the newspapers are reporting record-breaking case and fatality counts every other day? That won't exactly inspire consumer confidence.
The flaw in the "open it up" thinking is that things can't really get worse than they are now. If we try to go back to "normal," it's possible that we could see mind-blowing fatality numbers, and now you've scored yourself a two-fer: You've exacerbated the public health crisis while simultaneously lengthening and deepening the economic recession. But I wouldn't be surprised if we pursue the "open it now no matter what" course of action because this administration and Americans in general tend to be very short-sighted. It's no wonder so many Baby Boomers are completely unprepared for retirement.
What if the death rates even out between Sweden and countries that quarantined? What if we shut down our economy for nothing?
Saw an article day that an Israeli professor has plotted the infection pattern across multiple countries and the patterns shows the rise and decline of the virus is nearly a constant. It doesn't matter if people quarantined or not. It has a set cycle. No mention if the cycle is repeating.
From the article:
“There is a decline in the number of infections even [in countries] without closures, and it is similar to the countries with closures,”
This is huge if true and would be a part of the calculus for bringing our economy back online
The question that needs to be asked is whether people can go about their normal lives if 10,000+ people die every day for a week. We lost 2,400 lives yesterday despite having shelter in place orders in effect across America. If we prematurely lift social restrictions, the loss of life will be even greater. Will Americans go to movies and go on vacations when the newspapers are reporting record-breaking case and fatality counts every other day? That won't exactly inspire consumer confidence.
The flaw in the "open it up" thinking is that things can't really get worse than they are now. If we try to go back to "normal," it's possible that we could see mind-blowing fatality numbers, and now you've scored yourself a two-fer: You've exacerbated the public health crisis while simultaneously lengthening and deepening the economic recession. But I wouldn't be surprised if we pursue the "open it now no matter what" course of action because this administration and Americans in general tend to be very short-sighted. It's no wonder so many Baby Boomers are completely unprepared for retirement.
Do people go about their daily lives when we lose more than 10K per week to heart disease? Do they overeat, smoke, refuse to exercise, and ignore their own genetic past?
Do people go about their daily lives when we lose more than 10K per week to heart disease? Do they overeat, smoke, refuse to exercise, and ignore their own genetic past?
Last time I checked, heart disease was not contagious.
I'm dead if I get this virus, so I get where you are coming from. I isolated myself early before anyone told me to. I wanted us to shutdown for a couple of weeks so that the hospitals would not be overwhelmed. However, I didn't sign up for shutting everything down for months. I figured many would work from home, the sickly would stay in and others would wear masks, etc.. I didn't count on people hoarding toilet paper or bare food shelves. I never dreamed so many would lose their jobs. What I saw last weekend were lines of people waiting for food. Freaking food because they have no income. We need to open up soon before this country is destroyed. We will have hiccups, some hot spots might have to curtail activities, but we must move on.
This. What hit me was the news coverages of people lining up for food banks, sometimes camping overnight, or flooding them with lines of literally (at least if you believe the news coverage) thousands. We need to start getting people back to work. Open up any business that doesn't have a lot of direct physical contact. I can see keeping gyms, beauty salons or similar places shut down, and sporting events or concerts, but not a lot else. Those at high risk or those that are especially concerned are free to shelter in their own homes, but let others get back to work. After a week or two and with some sample testing we can decide rather to open everything.
Remember-the original argument for "social distancing" was simply to "flatten the curve" and avoid overwhelming our health care system. The claim was that the same number would still get sick-the area under the curve was the same. So long as we don't bury the hospitals, start opening things up and get this over with.
If there is no economy, there will be no human life. No food, no shelter, riots and looting, no medical care of any kind, no culture, no education.
Oh please, the economy can and WILL start over again, even from scratch if need be.
Look back thru history, PLENTY of big civilizations fell...but they eventually came back from it too, Rome still exists today and they seem to be doing just fine.
This. What hit me was the news coverages of people lining up for food banks, sometimes camping overnight, or flooding them with lines of literally (at least if you believe the news coverage) thousands. We need to start getting people back to work. Open up any business that doesn't have a lot of direct physical contact. I can see keeping gyms, beauty salons or similar places shut down, but not a lot else. Those at high risk or those that are especially concerned are free to shelter in their own homes, but let others get back to work. After a week or two and with some sample testing we can decide rather to open everything.
The problem is, other countries that have tried this, they saw infected numbers skyrocket very quickly. If that happens here, how do you think people will feel about starting over from the beginning and being closed down another 2-3 months?!
Open up any business that doesn't have a lot of direct physical contact.
How many businesses are closed that don't have a lot of direct physical contact? Nearly all businesses in New York that don't involve a lot of face-to-face interaction are still open. Construction has still been ongoing for the most part. I can even walk into the nearby bike shop and enjoy a chai latte while I get new pedals and a cassette.
Retail, however, does require face-to-face interaction, so your plan would be wholly ineffective on that front. The same is true of tourism and hospitality. And entertainment. And the restaurant industry. These are big parts of the American economy that are creating ripple effects throughout the greater economy. What is your plan to get these industries open?
Do people go about their daily lives when we lose more than 10K per week to heart disease? Do they overeat, smoke, refuse to exercise, and ignore their own genetic past?
Excellent!
It is not as though people weren't dying every day in large numbers before this CV madness began. I would like to see data comparing total numbers of deaths in this CV period with an average for the same time period over, say, the last 10 years. It wouldn't surprise me for the numbers to be very close, if not essentially the same. Because most of the "CV" deaths are in people very vulnerable due to other health problems completely unrelated to CV. The point being that, sadly, many would have died anyway.
How many businesses are closed that don't have a lot of direct physical contact? Nearly all businesses in New York that don't involve a lot of face-to-face interaction are still open. Construction has still been ongoing for the most part. I can even walk into the nearby bike shop and enjoy a chai latte while I get new pedals and a cassette.
Retail, however, does require face-to-face interaction, so your plan would be wholly ineffective on that front. The same is true of tourism and hospitality. And entertainment. And the restaurant industry. These are big parts of the American economy that are creating ripple effects throughout the greater economy. What is your plan to get these industries open?
"Face to face"-as in people actually talking to each other-yes, open that up. Things with direct, very close contact? Maybe give it a couple weeks and evaluate. Again, like gyms and barber shops. I can see starting in smaller, more remote cities, rather than NYC or a major metro for a couple weeks. Evaluate and move on.
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