Posted on 04/30/2020 11:20:58 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
The struggle between President Trump’s drive to reopen the American economy as quickly as possible, and the insistence by his public health team and many others that this has to be delayed until further hurdles are overcome, is largely a false dilemma. We can simultaneously increase protection for those who are most vulnerable to coronavirus and, with appropriate precautions, reopen most of our economy and society.
The key to unlocking this false dilemma is a clear understanding of who, in fact, is most vulnerable to death from this novel killer — and who is not. As data from the deaths of the more than 58,000 of our fellow citizens to date show, the answer is clear.
Those at greatest risk of death from coronavirus are a subset of the 15 percent of Americans older than 65. More than 80 percent of all the deaths in America from coronavirus have come from this group. Moreover, the data show that vulnerability increases with age beyond 65, especially among individuals with one or more specific preexisting conditions. And among those who have died, three of every five have been males. In the death toll to date, how many were individuals under 25? Of the 200 million Americans under 45, how many have died from this novel virus? The answers are: fewer than 100 among under 25s and fewer than 1,000 under 45s.
Thus, in contrast to the specter of a nation at risk, when properly understood, coronavirus should be seen as a big threat to a small percentage of our population and a small threat to the overwhelming majority. To clarify this increased danger, it is instructive to distinguish between BC (before coronavirus appeared) and AC (after coronavirus). The fraction of Americans who today face a significantly greater risk of death than they...
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
We can protect the most vulnerable and reopen the economy
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That should have been our plan from the beginning. This was a political M-80 in the school toilet.
How to protect dentists? barbers? teeth cleaners? beauticians? And other in-your-face workers?
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Until there is a vaccine?
Purdue will welcome students at the end of August for the fall term. Specifically, Purdue’s guidelines call for “protecting the more vulnerable members of our community by allowing (or requiring, if necessary) them to work remotely”; “spreading out classes across days and times”; and “pre-testing students and staff before arrival in August.”
Graham Allison wrote Essence of Decision, a groundbreaking study of the Cuban Missile Crisis. A brilliant scholar, right on target.
Omgosh!! Funny, yet not funny!!
Still on the fantasy that a vaccine will cure all and eliminate the virus. Corona virus along with rhinovirus are the two leading causes of the common cold yet there is no vaccine. Flu vaccine is only 47 percent effective and that with only 50% of the population getting the yearly vaccine. Barbers? never heard of any outbreak of anything from a barber in any of my almost 70 years. Dental workers do the same thing they have been doing for years; they wear masks and gloves. Who ensures that they don’t infect us? If they don’t want to work then starving is on them.
By keeping the young people at home we are simply delaying the process for the bug to run out of new clients.
We are potentially creating a situation where the lockdown goes on for months.
Once again, WHO among all of us old farts voted to have the government or any other group protect us? We’ve lived this long by taking personal responsibility for our health and lives. Many of our contemporaries who did not make it this far did not take personal responsibility and chose poorly. Think of it as culling the herd. There is no reason to burden the rest of the population by continuing this absurd fear mongering. There are many of us seniors who still have to or want to work. Enough of this crap, completely open up the economy.
The most exposed person in the country today from unknown foot traffic interacting with them is the grocery store cashiers.
All the regulars at my local grocery store are still working - and a few of them are up there in years.
Yes. Change places where people gather to make them more resistant to disease. Either that, or go full isolationist against imports. We’ve had more than enough of the hitchhiking bugs.
As for businesses, I’ve had no use for those who serve up vices. And because of many of the insulting, vulgar comments from spoiled rotten convenience business and blue state tourist trap interests, I won’t be patronizing those, either.
The truth is, you can’t do this forever. There will be cases somewhere all the time.
Open and those who want to work can work and those who don’t can stay home. Me, I’m going fishing, just like I have been.
Me, I'll be doing the same thing I have been doing previously to this, work, shop, play and laugh at the media panic and people wearing masks in cars driving alone.
The same way you protect them now, and the same way the ER nurses are protected — with protective equipment.
N95 industrial masks for the workers. Surgical masks at the door for customers, like they were at your doctor’s office before there was a shortage.
But you could just use surgical masks for both sides; those running these businesses could take temperatures, and refuse service to anybody with a fever, or who has a cough.
At some point we need to trust each other, and accept that there will be some transmission.
I’m working on having a friend of the family who is a shut-down hair stylist come over and do my hair. I can cut it myself, or get my daughter, but I want to help him out with the bills.
If I was an at-risk 80 year old, I’d probably want to start seeing my family and friends, so I’d hope they would go get infected and get it over with.
THat’s how we should have done it, locked down the 65-and-older people with pre-existing conditions, and let everybody else get herd immunity. 100,000 deaths maybe, but we all die sometime.
I think politics played a huge role early on as it is now. NOBODY would dare say the "Boomers" should have to quarantine by mandate as the rest of the world goes on.
“opinion contributor” - I learned a new term.
I agree if we had been given valid info from China from the beginning late last year. Also, our own "experts" (guess who) predicted 2.2 million deaths; then 100 to 250 hundred thousand; then down to 60 thousand; and now back up to 74 thousand. The fear/hysteria factor took over with the first prediction.
As stated before, I believe epidemiology to be an inexact medical science. If were exact, they would have found a specific cure for the yearly influenza epidemics that kill thousands in the US every year. Instead, they make their best educated guess on what strains will be prevalent for vaccines.
Yes, there are proven effective protocols for many diseases and ailments. Now, we find HCQ is proving to be a real cure for this virus world-wide if caught soon enough, but it is being ignored by SuperScoobyDo Fauci while he promotes the expensive drug Remdesivir.
While Ingram is on top of this, I get so tired of her saying every death is "tragic". No, it's not for those who deserve to get off my rock. Others can be. However, destroying our country over this hysteria is making me cry.
Lock up the old folks!
I knew that was coming. Kinda like...the Nazis segregating the Jews for their own well-being.
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