This Is What a 'Full Shutdown' Across the U.S. Would Look Like, Doctor Says
Category: Health, Science & Technology
Via: buzz-of-the-orient • 4 years ago • 8 commentsBy: Richard Evans
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
This Is What a 'Full Shutdown' Across the U.S. Would Look Like, Doctor Says
seems more likely than ever that the coronavirus pandemic is not going away on its own. New cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are rising rapidly in states across the country , and it remains to be seen if state officials urging residents to wear masks and stay at home as much as possible will actually slow the spread of the virus. It's possible that more drastic measures need to be taken, and for some health experts, that means a full shutdown across the U.S. Here's what that would look like.
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Some of you might be thinking, as Wen notes, that we already tried a nationwide lockdown, but the U.S. never attempted anything on this scale. Some states never shut down at all, while others reopened early . The states that came closest to full shutdown, like New York, were also the most successful at controlling their outbreaks . While the country as a whole may have somewhat flattened the curve, countries that tried full shutdowns "crushed their curves and brought their case counts essentially to zero ," Wen writes.
The other options Wen mentions are "status quo" (doing nothing) and "whack-a-mole" (shutting down hotspots as they emerge). The latter has been proposed by many experts, including Anthony Fauci , MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), who has suggested individual state shutdowns . In Los Angeles, which has emerged as one of the new epicenters of the pandemic in the U.S., Mayor Eric Garcetti recently said that a new stay-at-home order would be "surgical" and targeted.
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But it's not clear this less restrictive approach would be enough to stop the spread across the country, especially when not a single U.S. state is currently on track to contain COVID . "The idea of a hard shutdown should be on the table," Andy Slavitt , former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told Wen. "It would be more difficult and disruptive, but the short-term pain could bring the economy back more quickly."
Given how resistant some state residents and even state officials have been to restrictions of any kind—whether mask mandates or business closures—it's hard to imagine the entire country getting on board with another lengthy shutdown. As Wen notes, however, doing nothing is no longer a real possibility. "There will be a breaking point," she writes. And for more on the future of coronavirus in the country, Dr. Fauci Just Said the Words About COVID-19 You Never Wanted to Hear .
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Not going to happen in the USA. Americans will just have to wait for vaccines to cure and prevent, and by that time the numbers will be beyond present imagination. Full shutdown will not happen in the USA because of the selfish demand by so many that their individual rights and freedoms are more important than the lives and health of their own relatives and friends, and the rest of the American people.
Where I live there was a VOLUNTARY TOTAL SHUTDOWN for two and a half months. Only supermarkets, pharmacies and banks were open and a person would have to be wearing a mask, have a normal body temperature and show identification with a local address to enter. Only one person was allocated to be the family member to leave the home, and that person had to wear a mask, disposable gloves and shoe covers, and wash with a special disinfectant liquid upon return. Fines and arrests were not needed, because the culture here differs from the "me-first" culture in America - it considers the collective good, the well-being of all, the concern people have for the health of their fellow occupants, especially elders, to be more important than individual rights.
I truly feel sorry for my American friends (and worry about my son and his family who live in Wisconsin which is why I DO care what happens in America), who due to the mixed messages from the different levels of and loyalties to leadership in the USA are suffering through this pandemic. IMO, the message of the seed herein is a necessity to resume a level of normality, but I know it will never be allowed to happen in America.
In my city-state of 32 million, the only case or two for almost 3 months have been imported (people coming from elsewhere). Today, everything is open - stores, restaurants, schools, theatres, mostly with some rules about masks, etc. and although not all, but many people are still wearing masks outside, although I had to wear a mask yesterday, pass a temperature test, and wait for the occupant numbers to decrease to enter a bank. Otherwise, people are now living relatively normal lives. That's what happens with "total shutdown".
Good luck. I hope everyone here, even those who have been taunting me, stays healthy.
I think, from reading the comments I just did on another seed, that I'd better lock this one for the night. I will be around to moderate it tomorrow.
Ooops! I forgot to unlock this when I woke up this morning. I was beginning to think that Americans really don't give a damn about the effects of the virus in America. Now UNLOCKED and open for civil comments.
I think that verdict is still out.
Yesterday, Thursday 9/23/20 10,444 new cases and 136 dead in Florida.
Locked for the (my) night - will unlock in the morning (if I remember this time. LOL)
Now unlocked and open for civil comments.
No purpose in keeping this seed open at all - I think almost everyone would rather just watch the numbers skyrocket than to discuss how to win this war. I'm locking this now for good.