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Here's something the media has done a poor job of communicating to the public. (And consequently, in their void, Trump's administration has been able to fill a hole with nonsense.)
"Why are we doing social distancing?"
That's the question. The answer just makes you dive deeper.
"Why are we doing social distancing?"
That's the question. The answer just makes you dive deeper.
Anyone can tell you that we're social distancing to "stop the spread" and "flatten the curve" -- and these two points are both correct.
But what was the point of flattening the curve? Why did we go to such great lengths to halt our entire country?
But what was the point of flattening the curve? Why did we go to such great lengths to halt our entire country?
Allow me to offer you a narrative you're not hearing: The goal was to flatten the curve, so we could re-open our economy with a different set of rules, testing, and virus tracing in place.
It wasn't a choice between the economy or halting the virus. We could have done both.
It wasn't a choice between the economy or halting the virus. We could have done both.
When we initially flattened the curve, it was because we had an uncontrolled spread of a virus that was going to limit our ability to treat patients. Basically, we needed to manufacture enough ventilators to get them to hot spots.
But that only answers treatment.
But that only answers treatment.
Our goal was to buy the country time; Get mobile testing facilities in place, temperature checkpoints, screening areas at airports, masks distribution, etc.
We needed to be able to protect our workforce, through careful planning, and risk mitigation.
That didn't happen.
We needed to be able to protect our workforce, through careful planning, and risk mitigation.
That didn't happen.
Even with the cuts the Trump administration made long before the pandemic hit, even with him pretending it didn't exist for two months -- we could have done better.
Here's the other thing: It's still possible.
Here's the other thing: It's still possible.
Navigating a pandemic isn't really possible at a state-to-state level. It'd be like if Kennedy announced we were going to the moon, and he immediately followed it up with, "... and every state will compete to get there first!"
We need the collective resources of every state.
We need the collective resources of every state.
Trump keeps coming back to the narrative that "the Democrats" want to keep the economy shut down to hurt him.
No. LOL. That ain't it.
He and his administration had time to put together a plan, and they did almost nothing. His only job was to give us a plan. He didn't do it.
No. LOL. That ain't it.
He and his administration had time to put together a plan, and they did almost nothing. His only job was to give us a plan. He didn't do it.
Are other countries re-opening? Yes.
How did they do it? With testing, temperature checkpoints, PPE distribution, drive through testing, airport screenings, and hundreds of other tiny steps.
We can re-open American, and run at about 80-85% of our full capacity.
How did they do it? With testing, temperature checkpoints, PPE distribution, drive through testing, airport screenings, and hundreds of other tiny steps.
We can re-open American, and run at about 80-85% of our full capacity.
Here's what we do know: Schools are basically our biggest disease vectors. (Learn from Sweden, please.)
Sending tiny humans who love touching everything to concentration points, five days a week, and then back home to parents and grandparents? That's a really bad idea.
Sending tiny humans who love touching everything to concentration points, five days a week, and then back home to parents and grandparents? That's a really bad idea.
Churches and sporting events? No way. We can't do those, because putting hundreds (let alone thousands, or tens of thousands) of people into an area with limited ventilation -- that's how super-spreader events happen.
Setting aside big group events, can we navigate this? Yes.
Setting aside big group events, can we navigate this? Yes.
I don't think any American wants to "shut everything down" until there is a vaccine. Most of us (the sane ones, at least) just want high risk people to be safe, and we want to know that people around us are being tested, and then quarantined if they test positive.
That's it.
That's it.
To put a bow on this thread: The goal of isolation and social distancing was never simply to shut down everything until a vaccine arrived.
We needed to hit pause until tests could be efficiently administered, and other virus management systems were in place.
We needed to hit pause until tests could be efficiently administered, and other virus management systems were in place.
Until there is a vaccine, you can't prevent a virus from spreading. You can only manage it.
The goal of The President isn't to "prevent war" -- but rather manage war, when it happens. They don't "prevent hurricanes" -- but rather manage disaster response teams.
That's the job.
The goal of The President isn't to "prevent war" -- but rather manage war, when it happens. They don't "prevent hurricanes" -- but rather manage disaster response teams.
That's the job.
Ultimately, Trump's weakness in leadership is the reason our economy failed: Because he failed to do his job.
We never asked him to prevent a pandemic. We asked him to manage the response. Thus far, he's shown that when our country is in crisis, he's unable to function.
We never asked him to prevent a pandemic. We asked him to manage the response. Thus far, he's shown that when our country is in crisis, he's unable to function.
