I know I should be so far over this, but tonight I'm again reeling at the number of people who think my concern over the COVID-19 pandemic arises from some kind of radical leftist ideology.

I've spent the last 20 years studying emerging infectious diseases and planning for a moment I hoped would never come. My preferences regarding 1M+ deaths vs. shutdown may be ideologically grounded. My expectations for the pandemic trajectory based on data like these—that's not.

Thank you to all for your support and encouragement. I want to stress that while a month ago I was finding this hostility to be emotionally taxing, I'm mostly past that.

My fear tonight is for how we can solve the collective problem this pandemic poses while we so badly divided.