Originally Posted by GeeWizDriver

Personally, I read articles from a wide variety of sources, talk to my doctor, talk to a friend who is a retired infectious disease pathologist, talk to two family members who are ER docs, talk to another friend who is an AME, and then I LOOK IN THE DAMN MIRROR.

I’m the only one responsible for my health.

Originally Posted by GeeWizDriver

Personally, I read articles from a wide variety of sources, talk to my doctor, talk to a friend who is a retired infectious disease pathologist, talk to two family members who are ER docs, talk to another friend who is an AME, and then I LOOK IN THE DAMN MIRROR.

I’m the only one responsible for my health.

Originally Posted by Duffman

A lot of people seem to be up in arms about the two extreme courses of action, but if you ignore the media (CNN and Fox) and look at the actual response, it's been pretty predictable. We opened our economy at an earlier stage in the pandemic than most of our EU friends, which very predictively led to an increase in cases, a sharp decrease in unemployment, and a stronger economy. It's really that simple.

If you look scroll down to the daily new cases, the US has effectively flattened to curve:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/
Whereas the UK, Italy, France, and Germany have beaten the curve:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/uk/
https://www.worldometers.info/corona...country/italy/
https://www.worldometers.info/corona...ountry/france/
https://www.worldometers.info/corona...untry/germany/

This is exactly what was predicted by the vast majority of public health professionals. Remember, 9 out of 10 dentists think that one dentist is an idiot.

The economy was moving at such a breakneck pace going into this and profit margins across most industries had been driven to such razor thin margins that I think a lot of people bought into the wishful thinking of "we'll recover overnight and continue on the same upward economic trajectory." It's not going to be the end of the world, but there will be some pain.

You can also tell people until you're blue in the face that the virus isn't that much worse than the flu, and for people under 50, at least as far as death rate is concerned, you aren't wrong:
https://www.businessinsider.com/coro...-by-age-2020-6
But be realistic, this is still a pandemic. Most rational people who have a family, comfortable home in the 'burbs, and jobs not tied to the travel, restaurant, or leisure are perfectly content spending more time at home and avoiding crowds for another year or so. Because of all the measures taken I don't think the virus will ever fully run its course, but at the same time, it becomes exponentially harder to put a lid on it as more people get it.

I keep saying this, but study after study has shown that masks do prevent the spread of COVID19 by reducing droplets and fomites, N95>surgical>cloth. Studies have also shown that transmission is closely related to how well ventilated the space is. If we can't use those tools to our advantage to effectively bring the R0 below 1, then it's going to be a loonnnggggg year(s).

Originally Posted by pangolin

Https://Rt.live

we are failing.

Originally Posted by NewGuy01

Sorry to interrupt the 'Rona debates but posted today to the TSA travel numbers:

6/22/2020 ---- 607,540

Originally Posted by LoneStar32

I never said that we should totally ignore the experts either, those are words you put into my mouth. It's just that I am stupid enough when I can see a conspiracy theory that starts a culture war to disregard health advice and inflame a national pandemic. This goes for my side.

Originally Posted by WutFace

There. I fixed it for you.