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Sad to see two leftist professors from @harvardmed join the right wing attack on the *lockdown proponents*, a term which in itself is a straw man. A thread 1/n https://jacobinmag.com/2020/09/covid-19-pandemic-economy-us-response-inequality?fbclid=IwAR2UE2KpJcy5fnnLtzfYSrtOMN5rYM3jCECeal53fzaesxioTCPdrusyVI8
First off, people advocating against naturally acquired herd immunity don’t want to shut down all restaurants, hotels, factories, etc, we want to see it done safely (masks, distancing, ventilation, etc.) There are very few industries that cannot exist during a pandemic 2/n
They point out the cost of forgoing preventive care like immunizations and screenings, and seem to think that elitist public health types want people to delay needed medical care, as if it's March 2020. In what jurisdiction are they still postponing dental care? 3/n
The interviewees invoke the Swedish approach, which they erroneously conflate with herd immunity, and then amazingly state that you can’t really compare Sweden’s mortality with other nordic countries 4/n https://www.newsweek.com/herd-immunity-definitely-not-swedens-goal-coronavirus-says-chief-epidemiologist-anders-1531626
Their argument is that closing schools is particularly harmful for the working class, which I agree with. But rather than use school openings as the reason to minimize transmission in other sectors, they invoke ND as a positive example (fastest growing outbreak in the US) 5/n
They go all in on their belief that a society can sufficiently protect the elderly and other vulnerable persons and simultaneously save the economy. But places like Sweden, N. Dakota and Florida haven’t seen a markedly better economy, especially not in the service sector 6/n
These 2 @harvardmed faculty are disconnected frm reality. They think they’re advocating for the working class, but their policy would result in more pain and suffering for that very group. The pandemic has exacerbated inequality, yes, but the solution isn’t to infect more ppl 7/n
Only by reducing community-wide transmission can we protect nursing home residents, incarcerated peoples, and students. Rather than throwing our lot in with the libertarian right, the left needs to focus on universal basic income, universal health care, and union organizing 8/8
I know they don't want you to compare Sweden with it's neighbors, but just so you know https://twitter.com/SandroDemaio/status/1307812382396182530?s=19
