You are not being rational.
700 people have died (out of 330 million) in the US in three months from CV.
In that same time, around 13,000 have died (in the US) from the common flu.
How do we catch the common flu? From other people!
Why have we not shut down the economy for the flu?
Appreciate the effort to argue the point reasonably..
Yes, there have only been 700 deaths SO FAR. That’s not the issue.
The flu has a CFR of .1%. CV19 has a CFR of at least 1% (10X) and as high as 8% (Italy). Worldwide, it’s about 4.2% currently.
The flu has a R0 (contagion rate) WAY below that of CV19 (R0 of 2.5 - 3, possibly as high as 5 in some studies). That means it spreads like wildfire, whereas the flu spreads..but nothing like CV19.
Anyway..that’s the crux of the issue. A LOT more infections (spread) and a lot more deadly. But deadly aside, the bigger issue is that our hospitals can’t handle the massive caseload coming. Just look at what’s happening in NY TODAY. They need 140K beds and have 59K. Need 30K ICU beds and have one tenth of that at 3K today. That’s a big problem.
If anyone caught Cuomo’s press conference this morning, he did a great job laying out the numbers for NY. And NY is just the first city that will experience that type of scenario.