I've seen people blame Trump as if it is his fault that people are dying. It's demonstrably not. The whole "flatten the curve" strategy is not, and never was about, limiting the number of people who ultimately contract covid-19. It was about slowing the spread and stretching it out longer so that hospitals do not become overwhelmed and people start dying because they lack proper care. This has not happened (yet). Mounting evidence is suggesting that Covid-19 is no deadlier on a percentage bases than a bad case of the flu...however, it is much easier to spread so more people get it and hence more people die.
I question this whole strategy. Given the amount the government is spending directly on all of this and the impact to the economy, shutting down everything seems like a horrible idea. If necessary, put a fraction of that cost into manufacturing PPE and needed medical equipment. Advise strongly that people older than the age of 60 and/or that have certain health issues (or must be around people who fit that description), to isolate themselves as much as possible. Let everyone else get on with their lives.
Trump is right in that the cure can't be worse than the disease. But I think it already is. And I'm not talking about the pocketbooks of the wealthy but about the lives a devastated economy will ultimately cost. We all hope the economy bounces back quickly after the lockdown is over but that remains to be seen. I think countless small businesses are never coming back. We shall see.
I agree with everything you wrote there.
Imagine if you will that at the start of this we put all at risk people in luxury accommodation somewhere free of charge. It would certainly have cost a lot less than what is happening now.
I think that in the end one of two things is going to happen: Governments will admit they were terribly wrong (unlikely) or they will skew the statistics and control the news to pat themselves on the back for doing "exactly what needed to be done."
Yes, politicians and governments almost never admit to being wrong. I think the proof will be in the numbers though you will have to look for them. You can inflate the COVID-19 deaths but it will be hard to do without causing other types of death to mysteriously decrease. But the claim will always be that it would have been so much worse if anything other than exactly what we did had been done.
indeed, i as noticing a very suspicious drop in pneumonia death rates in USA hospitals as of late.
Have you heard the story about the trumpet-player in the tower analogy?