Whether I'm hypocrite or snowflake notwithstanding, the point is that there is a consistent disdain for Trump that goes beyond rationality, even to the point of hoping for his failure despite who may suffer in his path. The truth is that the US has controlled the virus as well as any other nation so far and hasn't shown any greater ineptitude than the others. There's also the lingering question about the malaria drug, which might show greater promise than expected and that would not have gotten as much traction as it did without Trump. — Hanover
Yeah, I have been talking about TDS, which I see as real medical situation. (Scott Adams says the same.) — Nobeernolife
Maybe we should just talk about coronavirus and leave the orangeutan/saviour of the world (take your choice) out of it for a while. — Baden
This article provides a very interesting perspective on the spread of coronavirus, its containment, and prospects for returning to normalcy.
Summary of the article: Strong coronavirus measures today should only last a few weeks, there shouldn’t be a big peak of infections afterwards, and it can all be done for a reasonable cost to society, saving millions of lives along the way. If we don’t take these measures, tens of millions will be infected, many will die, along with anybody else that requires intensive care, because the healthcare system will have collapsed. — Relativist
What should his administration have done differently? — frank
So while instituting a travel ban on China (for foreign nationals), but combine that with not checking people coming in is simply incoherent. In the one hand you acknowledge a problem in China but on the other you don't check anyone (US nationals) coming in. — Benkei
Whether I'm hypocrite or snowflake notwithstanding, the point is that there is a consistent disdain for Trump that goes beyond rationality, even to the point of hoping for his failure despite who may suffer in his path. — Hanover
The truth is that the US has controlled the virus as well as any other nation so far and hasn't shown any greater ineptitude than the others. — Hanover
the quicker responses like quarantine, non-essential for society's basic functioning business closures are adopted, and the quicker travel is restricted, the lower the ultimate effected number of the population is expected to peak. — fdrake
If you close businesses before the virus is there, you aren't slowing anything down. You're just hurting the economy. — frank
You accuse everyone who here who criticizes Trump of having TDS. That's not nuance. That's slavish devotion. — Baden
I'd argue that a community should wait until the virus is present to start shutting down businesses. The goal is not the stop the spread, it's to slow it down. If you close businesses before the virus is there, you aren't slowing anything down. — frank
Most European countries have been taking preventative measures for about a month. — fdrake
No, I said that if you have a travel ban for foreign nationals is doesn't make sense to not check us nationals coming in. Something a lot of countries have done. — Benkei
Most European countries have been taking preventative measures for about a month. Schools started to close in the last few days in the US. Responding to a pandemic; if you wait for the first confirmed case in an area to do literally anything, you're already way too late.
You're a healthcare worker right? Surely you know this. — fdrake
I'd argue that a community should wait until the virus is present to start shutting down businesses. The goal is not the stop the spread, it's to slow it down. If you close businesses before the virus is there, you aren't slowing anything down. You're just hurting the economy. — frank
The virus spreads before you know it's there. If you know it's going to make its presence felt (say, within a couple of weeks), you know it's already there. And you need to hit it then to slow down the spread. — Baden
My point was that closing businesses should not be done in excess of what's absolutely necessary to slow the spread. We want it to spread. We need people to get it and recover from it. Until we have either a cure or a vaccine, people developing immunity to it is our only way of protecting the vulnerable.
I know this is a tricky thing to grasp. — frank
Herd immunity is one way to approach it. But only if the spread is manageable, i.e. less than 1:1. Then, yes, we potentially get better overall immunity and buy time like you said. But you need to hammer it first to get to that stage as per "The hammer and the dance" article that Andrew M put up. So, initially the idea is to smash it with extreme social distancing and quarantining measures, and yes, shutting everything down. And then gradually lay off until you're at a low level that's controllable. Short term economic hurt for long-term economic sustainability. — Baden
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