Bugsy McGurk
President
The whole idea so far has been to “flatten the curve” - to reduce the rate of spread so that the health care system does not get overwhelmed. That effort is obviously hindered by an inability to acquire the needed medical equipment and test kits, with Trump coming out every day spewing happy talk, doing mini versions of his hate rallies, and talking about “opening things up” in two weeks, instead of focusing on the lack of required equipment and test kits.
That obviously slows down the effort to bring the rate of contagion under control, and it costs many lives, but there will be the “next stage.” There will come a time, due to physical separation and the incredible, courageous efforts of the medical community, when things are “loosened up.” Trump will obviously apply pressure to do that before the experts say it is wise to do it, but that day will come. What will that look like?
Well, we know that the virus will not be “gone” then. It will still be circulating in our society, probably to a significant degree. What percentage of people will want to “reenter society” and commingle with others at that point? People who don’t have to do that will not do it - they will stay hunkered down.
But many people who need to do it, principally for financial reasons, will do it. What happens then? The rate of spread then shoots up again.
We will at that point also have a fair number of people who have been infected but have recovered, hopefully providing them with temporary immunity from reinfection (such immunity from coronavirus infections tends to be limited to one to three years). Those people can freely return to work, assuming that they are temporarily immune.
What else can be done for the “next” period? Well, everyone reentering the workforce could wear masks - the best masks that prevent them from being infected, and prevents them from infecting others. Do we have such masks? No. We don’t even have enough for the medical workers. Are the feds on this? We hear nothing about that.
We also need an extraordinary amount of test kits - both to test for current infection and antigen tests to see who has been infected and recovered. Do we have those test kits available? Not by a long shot. Are the feds preparing for the “next” period and ramping up production of the tests that will be needed? We hear nothing about that either.
Although Trump doesn’t seem to get this, the economyhealth of Americansgo hand in hand. Just flinging the doors back open on some arbitrary date will not achieve the mutual goals of promoting the economy and keeping Americans safe. But to achieve those goals, the steps outlined above, and more, need to be taken.
Of course, the wild card is whether effective therapies or a vaccine can be employed in the immediate future. That seems out of the question as to a vaccine. It’s at least possible if effective therapies can be quickly identified and employed. But we can’t count on that. We must carefully prepare, right now, for the “next” period and produce what needs to be produced for that period. Just like we produced naval vessels and bombers in record speed during WWII.
Hopefully, someone can convince Trump to think ahead, consider all these factors, and do what needs to be done for the “next” phase.
That obviously slows down the effort to bring the rate of contagion under control, and it costs many lives, but there will be the “next stage.” There will come a time, due to physical separation and the incredible, courageous efforts of the medical community, when things are “loosened up.” Trump will obviously apply pressure to do that before the experts say it is wise to do it, but that day will come. What will that look like?
Well, we know that the virus will not be “gone” then. It will still be circulating in our society, probably to a significant degree. What percentage of people will want to “reenter society” and commingle with others at that point? People who don’t have to do that will not do it - they will stay hunkered down.
But many people who need to do it, principally for financial reasons, will do it. What happens then? The rate of spread then shoots up again.
We will at that point also have a fair number of people who have been infected but have recovered, hopefully providing them with temporary immunity from reinfection (such immunity from coronavirus infections tends to be limited to one to three years). Those people can freely return to work, assuming that they are temporarily immune.
What else can be done for the “next” period? Well, everyone reentering the workforce could wear masks - the best masks that prevent them from being infected, and prevents them from infecting others. Do we have such masks? No. We don’t even have enough for the medical workers. Are the feds on this? We hear nothing about that.
We also need an extraordinary amount of test kits - both to test for current infection and antigen tests to see who has been infected and recovered. Do we have those test kits available? Not by a long shot. Are the feds preparing for the “next” period and ramping up production of the tests that will be needed? We hear nothing about that either.
Although Trump doesn’t seem to get this, the economyhealth of Americansgo hand in hand. Just flinging the doors back open on some arbitrary date will not achieve the mutual goals of promoting the economy and keeping Americans safe. But to achieve those goals, the steps outlined above, and more, need to be taken.
Of course, the wild card is whether effective therapies or a vaccine can be employed in the immediate future. That seems out of the question as to a vaccine. It’s at least possible if effective therapies can be quickly identified and employed. But we can’t count on that. We must carefully prepare, right now, for the “next” period and produce what needs to be produced for that period. Just like we produced naval vessels and bombers in record speed during WWII.
Hopefully, someone can convince Trump to think ahead, consider all these factors, and do what needs to be done for the “next” phase.