Scott Atlas and the Efficacy of Lockdowns, Social Distancing, and Closings
"The US economy has been cratered less by the Coronavirus than by the response to it- driven by the undemocratic idea that science should rule""
" There are not and never will be, scientific answers to all public problems. Politics is how we exercise our free will and that rather than reflexively deferring to 'experts', we should defer as much as possible to the principles of freedom and common sense." George Gilder
Don't you hate those flawed models?
The virus is disappearing like magic.
In the past two days, we've only had a few new Covid cases. Over 115,000 and 1800 deaths.
No worries everything is just fine.
Is it not fascinating how some people will ignore the most obvious facts to support a fictional reality they desire?
Confirmation bias rules with some.
More lockdowns? What good have the present ones done?
Mandatory masks on a nationwide basis? What good are they doing?
You can't mandate individual behavior, and politicians should quit trying to do so.
We should be following the Swedish model.
As many leading epidemiologists have argued , random scientific sample testing at a national level could reveal how many Americans in different age and ethnic groups had had the disease and recovered. Once that risk factor was confirmed, scientifically, our country could focus on protecting older people, the ill, and other groups at high risk. The rest could return, with caution, to a new normal.
From your article:
I do not know about you, but there are areas in the USA where the people are clearly irresponsible. And there are areas (I think in most cases) where people are responsible and are all wearing masks and abiding by social distancing. The problem really is what to do when sub-cultures behave as though COVID-19 is just like the flu, will just disappear on its own, ...? Left alone, those sub-cultures would be highly infectious. One need only look at the recent problem with the White House to see how quickly a large group can be infected.
One only need to look at the WH to see how quickly the problem became uncontrollable to begin with.
It also doesn't help when there is no effective leadership to instruct them how to best contain or control Covid.
Swedens GDP is worse than some of it's neighbors in Scandinavia. So they seem to have a two-edged problem.
Are you in favor of abandoning social distancing and masks in public areas? Are you in favor of opening up close-proximity venues such as stadiums and concert halls prior to having an established herd immunity?
The larger question is....what's the best way to achieve herd immunity.
From the article....Once that risk factor was confirmed, scientifically, our country could focus on protecting older people, the ill, and other groups at high risk. The rest could return, with caution, to a new normal.
My answer is this: develop and distribute a vaccine.
The answer is simple: a vaccine. But until one is ready for mass distribution and use, masks and social distancing are the best options to prevent contagious spread.
Right on, Gordy. The countries that have dealt with the virus properly before it got entirely out of hand are the ones that have pretty well contained it. "Properly" meant immedite STRICT adherence to the guidelines. THAT'S what worked. Although I could not open the article video, I can assume what it said from the comments of the deniers. Hope that you, and the other unselfish intelligent Americans who don't make it their "RIGHT" and "FREEDOM" to spread the disease to others, stay healthy.
Expect one to be announced in a couple of weeks...
HERD Immunity with co-vid 19 puts millions at risk.
This just in....
Your link speaks of lock-downs. My comment was about masks and social distancing:
My point was (and is) that the notion of trusting the people to do the right thing is naive. As noted, there are some areas where the people are responsible and others where they clearly are not.
Lock-downs were an important measure at first as a stop-gap. And preventing mass gatherings such as concerts, etc. is still prudent. The key measures, as I noted, are wearing masks, social distancing, keeping surfaces clean and avoiding contact with other human beings unless necessary.
I was told a few days ago by an NT member that a main reason why the national government could not dictate to the States how to deal with the virus, because America is a Republic and the State governors can make their own determinations. Today I was reading about the West Wing TV series reunion program, and there was a quotation of one of POTUS Jed Bartlet's (Martin Sheen's) speeches that I thought responded to that opinion:
Yes, America was "one country" when the whole country was threatened by a common enemy. Well, today not only America but the whole world is fighing the same enemy, and it was a mistake for America to not fight that common enemy united rather than as a patchwork quilt. The first line of a folksong written by Tom Paxton is "It's a lesson too late for the learning", and unfortunately it's a lesson that America did not bother to heed.
Meanwhile back in the real world the US for the fourth consecutive day topped 50,000 (54,639) new COVID cases.