Posted on 03/27/2020 7:08:50 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
WASHINGTON - For the millions of Americans living under some form of lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, not knowing when the restrictions will end is a major source of anxiety. Will life events - weddings, funerals, even just simple nights out with friends - be delayed for a few weeks, a few months or much longer?
President Donald Trump gave one answer this week, saying he hoped businesses would reopen by Easter, on April 12, citing the severe damage restrictions have done to the economy.
While we may yearn for a clear timeline for when life will return to normal, scientists say that isn’t exactly the right question. Routines won’t resume exactly as they were for several months, or longer – but that doesn’t mean we’ll all be stuck in total lockdowns until then.
“We can’t simply wait inside for two years for a COVID-19 vaccine” to be developed, said Stephen Morse, a disease researcher at Columbia University. “We have to find some way to return to normal life.”
Decisions on how and when to lift restrictions, he added, should be based on information about infection rates that can only be learned by increasing testing. That will allow policymakers to tailor restrictions to fit the outbreak in different areas.
Rather than imagining the lockdown as having an on/off switch – where the only choice is between completely shutting down the country or throwing all rules out the window — many scientists advocate for charting a course in between, where restrictions can be ramped up or down.
“With more information, we can target our responses to be the most impactful,” said Nadia Abuelezam, a disease researcher at Boston College. That might mean introducing people back into the workforce in stages, she suggested.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
uh....yes, that’s what the President has been saying for the past three days.
Just watch his press conferences and don’t wait for the AP to catch-up.
Trying their best to pretend Trump hasn’t been out in front on this.
We have many very effective and controlled boundaries in America.
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County lines with county health officers and county sheriffs......
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Given our ability to mass communicate and monitor disease, we should quarantine by County, as the cases develop.
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People could then choose to temporarily relocate to safer areas, making the high density areas safer for us all.
Yep - his Task Force briefings are the best source for actual data - unlike most government agencies, he believes in catch as catch can...I once saw oranges rotting on the trees in orchards in Fresno....frost had damaged about 10% of the crop but to get government assistance, they had to leave it all to rot instead of marketing the good fruit and just getting compensation for the actual losses - I imagine some asshats in Congress were worried about some folks “cheating” and claiming a bit more so why not just pay them all w/o any cheating...
Paging Captain Obvious: Another strawman has been eviscerated.
These so called lock downs are a joke. 80% of jobs fall into the “essential” category. Another 19% are out running non essential errands. There is only a tiny percent who are following the stay home orders.
No one is staying home entirely; the problem with the "stay at home" orders is that the loopholes are large enough to drive a truckload full of coronavirus through them."
The option to go to grocery stores is the biggest culprit. It's nearly impossible to practice social distancing in such locations. Shoppers are touching the same things: door handles, shopping carts, food items and packaging. Aisles aren't big enough to separate people, and it's inevitable that someone is coughing or sneezing while in the store, whether or not they're infected with COVID-19.
It's minimally better with drive-ups and drive-throughs. I get it, we're practicing "social distancing" by only allowing "essential" activities, but there's just one problem with that--viruses can't tell essential from non-essential activities.
Yep.
My stay home started a few days before Trump’s. Hubby began his stay home the afternoon of Trump’s first day due to a doctor’s appointment and a last unsuccessful hunt for tp. I’m planning on staying in longer. Hubby will be out in a split second for a DQ dipped cone despite my warnings.
Well, all of the "stay at home" orders I've read so far, do permit people to go out and seek food. I can't fault your hubby for doing that!
Stay well.
Magical way to return to mostly normal: Let us return to work and school, and wash our hands. Done!
If people are worried, they can quarantine themselves.
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