COVID-19 (f/k/a "the Coronavirus")

[Jockey]

Other experts are saying it's time to drop any restrictions and get back to work.

Tough to know who's correct

I don't think there are ANY "experts" saying this.

[shoothoops]

They work mostly in the economic and business community

You are unsure whether or not to listen to Public Health Professionals or select economic and business professionals during a health crisis?

[Hards Alumni]

In some parts of the country, this is a possible outcome, but not even all of Italy is seeing the impact like they are in the Lombardi region

If I'm in NYC or Seattle I am 100% panicked. If I'm in Utah or Tennessee or maybe Alabama I'm concerned but not overly so.

And that is exactly the problem.  People don't care enough, and go about their day like this is a problem for NYC and Seattle and not them.  You have way too much faith in the average American to make altruistic decisions

[Pakuni]

In some parts of the country, this is a possible outcome, but not even all of Italy is seeing the impact like they are in the Lombardi region

If I'm in NYC or Seattle I am 100% panicked. If I'm in Utah or Tennessee or maybe Alabama I'm concerned but not overly so.

I'm guessing that a virus that's made its way from central China to 195 countries around the world might be able to find its way from New York and Seattle to Tennessee and Utah.
I don't think we need or ought to wait until a place reaches 100% panic levels before we take the kind of preventive measures that the experts suggest.

And maybe it's a good idea to take preventive measures in Utah and Tennessee before they get to New York and Seattle

[GooooMarquette]

You are unsure whether or not to listen to Public Health Professionals or select economic and business professionals during a health crisis?

I have to assume jesmu84's comment about "experts" in the economic and business community was made in implied teal. If not...wow.

[GooooMarquette]

I'm guessing that a virus that's made its way from central China to 195 countries around the world might be able to find its way from New York and Seattle to Tennessee and Utah.
I don't think we need or ought to wait until a place reaches 100% panic levels before we take the kind of preventive measures that the experts suggest.

And maybe it's a good idea to take preventive measures in Utah and Tennessee before they get to New York and Seattle

Yep. If we wait until the whole country becomes like NYC or Seattle, they wouldn't be preventive measures anymore.

[GooooMarquette]

And speaking of preventive measures...you need to keep them in place for a while so you don't go from a success story to a potential hot zone...

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/23/asia/hong-kong-coronavirus-quarantine-intl-hnk/index.html

[BM1090]

Read a few articles that suggested if we were to go to 4-5 week full lockdown right now we could open up business as usual after that period. It would give us time to get emergency hospitals/testing facilities in place and get enough tests ready.

Then, after the 5 week lockdown nearly everyone would have access to a test and we could quarantine the infected people and society restarts. Anyone with more knowledge know if this is feasible at all? I know it is working well in South Korea but I have my doubts it would work here on a larger scale.

[Coleman]

Read a few articles that suggested if we were to go to 4-5 week full lockdown right now we could open up business as usual after that period. It would give us time to get emergency hospitals/testing facilities in place and get enough tests ready.

Then, after the 5 week lockdown nearly everyone would have access to a test and we could quarantine the infected people and society restarts. Anyone with more knowledge know if this is feasible at all? I know it is working well in South Korea but I have my doubts it would work here on a larger scale.

This is what we should have done like 2 weeks ago.

[mu03eng]

I'm guessing that a virus that's made its way from central China to 195 countries around the world might be able to find its way from New York and Seattle to Tennessee and Utah.
I don't think we need or ought to wait until a place reaches 100% panic levels before we take the kind of preventive measures that the experts suggest.

And maybe it's a good idea to take preventive measures in Utah and Tennessee before they get to New York and Seattle

Not at all saying the measures shouldn't take place across the board, I'm just saying the panic is not uniformly distributed and it needs to communicated appropriately.

[Hards Alumni]

This is what we should have done like 2 weeks ago.

Advocated for it a month ago, alas, I have no power.

[pbiflyer]

Would you name some of these other experts that are suggesting drop restrictions and get back to work and life as usual?

There was one jenius that tweeted this last night after watching a news show......

[skianth16]

You are unsure whether or not to listen to Public Health Professionals or select economic and business professionals during a health crisis?

This health crisis is also becoming (or could already be considered) an economic crisis. Focusing exclusively on health benefits with no regard at all to economic impacts is not realistic. There needs to be a balance of many priorities. People's lives are the most important for sure, but people's livelihoods need to be considered as well.

[skianth16]

Read a few articles that suggested if we were to go to 4-5 week full lockdown right now we could open up business as usual after that period. It would give us time to get emergency hospitals/testing facilities in place and get enough tests ready.

Then, after the 5 week lockdown nearly everyone would have access to a test and we could quarantine the infected people and society restarts. Anyone with more knowledge know if this is feasible at all? I know it is working well in South Korea but I have my doubts it would work here on a larger scale.

Do you have any links you could share? I'm curious to understand how a full lockdown would be expected to affect testing supplies. Is there an assumption built in that during a 5 week lockdown we wouldn't need to use many tests? If that's not the case, I don't understand how a strict lockdown would allow us to build up a larger supply of tests than the current plans.

[Pakuni]

This health crisis is also becoming (or could already be considered) an economic crisis. Focusing exclusively on health benefits with no regard at all to economic impacts is not realistic. There needs to be a balance of many priorities. People's lives are the most important for sure, but people's livelihoods need to be considered as well.

So whose lives are you willing to sacrifice in the name of money? Your parents? Grandparents? Aunts? Uncles? Neighbors? Children? Friends? Siblings?
Or just other people's parents, grandparents, friends, children, siblings, etc.?

Fix the health crisis and the economic crisis goes away. The market will come back. Always has. The profits will come back. Always have. The jobs will come back. Always have.
The lives won't come back.

[skianth16]

So whose lives are you willing to sacrifice in the name of money? Your parents? Grandparents? Aunts? Uncles? Neighbors? Children? Friends? Siblings?
Or just other people's parents, grandparents, friends, children, siblings, etc.?

Fix the health crisis and the economic crisis goes away. The market will come back. Always has. The profits will come back. Always have. The jobs will come back. Always have.
The lives won't come back.

I did say people's lives are the top priority, didn't I?

[Silent Verbal]

And that is exactly the problem.  People don't care enough, and go about their day like this is a problem for NYC and Seattle and not them.  You have way too much faith in the average American to make altruistic decisions

CTA ridership in Chicago is down 83%, and the city's been dead for a week.  Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Indiana all now have a Shelter in Place order in effect, or will have one going very soon.

All across the country, bars and restaurants, gyms, movie theaters, cultural institutions, and pretty much all other recreational activities have been shut down.  You can't even watch sports on tv because there are no sports or other large public gatherings happening. 

People have nowhere to go and nothing to do, and it's going to be like that for at least the next two weeks.  Sure, there have been a few outliers like the idiots on the beaches in Florida, but for the most part, Americans are now taking this seriously, if for no other reason than they want their stuff back.

[Pakuni]

I did say people's lives are the top priority, didn't I?

You said people's lives are important "but ..."

Look, I get that a great number of people will suffer economic hardships as a result of this. I'm one of them. But I find appalling the notion that we've endured so much hardship to this point that it's time to talk about stopping the measures that experts say will save lives.

[rocket surgeon]

Other experts are saying it's time to drop any restrictions and get back to work.

Tough to know who's correct

There is nothing wrong with throwing this out there.  We need a free exchange of ideas. 

    There are some who are worried that if we shut down our economy too long , it will be irreparably damaged. Then what good is Medicare/aid etc when we as a state or country cannot afford it?  Will there be more demand than money can pay for? 

Just saying, we need some economic experts to weigh in here along with the health experts and come to a balanced conclusion

Italy's corrective measures don't seem to be working

[The Sultan]

Just saying, we need some economic experts to weigh in here along with the health experts and come to a balanced conclusion

I posted this earlier, but here is an opinion form the St. Louis fed

https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2020/march/bullard-expected-us-macroeconomic-performance-pandemic-adjustment-period

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Italy's corrective measures don't seem to be working

The data I saw is they have had new cases decline for two straight days.  While early and still digging out of the morass, this will likely take time.  What info shows them not getting better?

[The Sultan]

This health crisis is also becoming (or could already be considered) an economic crisis. Focusing exclusively on health benefits with no regard at all to economic impacts is not realistic. There needs to be a balance of many priorities. People's lives are the most important for sure, but people's livelihoods need to be considered as well.

Maybe if we had a better safety net, "people's livelihoods" wouldn't be as urgent a concern.

[skianth16]

You said people's lives are important "but ..."

Look, I get that a great number of people will suffer economic hardships as a result of this. I'm one of them. But I find appalling the notion that we've endured so much hardship to this point that it's time to talk about stopping the measures that experts say will save lives.

But livelihoods are important as well. I assume reasonable people can agree on that.

The point is that we can't employ solutions that don't factor in multiple points of view. It's possible to have a comprehensive solution that addresses more than one priority. If we are going to take extreme measure to save as many lives as possible, we also need to think about ways to limit the negative consequences of those actions.

[Pakuni]

There are some who are worried that if we shut down our economy too long , it will be irreparably damaged.

These people don't know what thew word "irreparably" means.

[Coleman]

Maybe if we had a better safety net, "people's livelihoods" wouldn't be as urgent a concern.

Ding ding ding, we have a winner

Here's the thing, in a crisis, Uncle Sam is going to pony up for unemployment benefit increases, food stamps, $1000 checks, etc. anyway. Just like there are no atheists in foxholes, there are no libertarians in a pandemic.

Problem is, none of it was budgeted so we will run a $3 trillion deficit this year. If we were smart, like every other country, we would just budget for the safety net at all times.