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Old 12th Mar 2020, 08:13
  #37 (permalink)  
threep
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
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Originally Posted by ReturningVector
It is for the same reason Italy went in lockdown when the virus was already wreaking havoc: To spread the number of sick people over a longer time.

That way you will have a less intense ‘peak’ that puts a burden on the medical infrastructure.

It is not so stupid as you might think, it is the way to go according to experts. You will not stop the virus, most people will get sick, but spreading it over a longer time helps in relieving the pressure on your hospitals and clinics somewhat.
The US has no national, integrated healthcare system. Under this administration they have cut the Complex Crisis Fund and the CDC funds to prevent global disease outbreaks by 80%. Very little testing for Covid-19 has been performed given the size and population of the country, they don't know what the scale of the infection is right now and factors such as the absence of health insurance (or the cost of getting tested for those that do) is just going to allow it to spread unchecked. Donald Trump believes he is a "stable genius" and that he alone can make decisions to protect US Citizens. Hmmm. The virus doesn't care about politics and DJT, it won't yield to presidential decrees.

To restrict international travel is not necessarily the wrong thing to do. Whether this is right measure at the right time is a question for the experts. To blame the virus on the EU, and then omit the UK from the travel restrictions when we are probably no more than 3 or 4 days behind France, Germany, Spain in terms of this outbreak is illogical and sounds very Trump. There must always be a scapegoat and today its the EU. I fear for the US in this pandemic, without a consistent, top-down, expert & evidence-led set of public health decisions, the US will have the greatest death rate in the developed world.
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