This country in three months?

[Jamie Buxton]

Health officials are not sure, but they seem hopeful that if you survive a covid19 attack you get some sort of immunity to another attack, and you don't carry the disease to give to somebody else. If that turns out to be true, how does our society work in, say, three months. We'll have half the population being survivors, and half as yet uninfected. The survivors can go back to work. Do the uninfected still stay home to avoid getting infected? Or do they deliberately expose themselves to a dangerous disease, so they can go back to earning a salary -- if they survive that is? Boy is that bizarre. And what happens to social distancing? Do the uninfected wear special clothing to tell everybody they're still social distancing, so stay away from them?

[Steve Eure]

Good questions. Unfortunately there are no good answers at this time. Too much disinformation out there. We have a certain segment in our area that will not heed any warnings and still continue to party on as if they are immune to it. Unfortunately, our hospital tells a different story. We are a hotspot and the hospital is filled to capacity and are having to open up another icu to handle it. As usual, these nimrods carry on like they own the world. What they don't realize or are too stupid to understand is they may survive this, but they will give it to other family members who will not.

[Doug Dawson]

Health officials are not sure, but they seem hopeful that if you survive a covid19 attack you get some sort of immunity to another attack, and you don't carry the disease to give to somebody else. If that turns out to be true, how does our society work in, say, three months. We'll have half the population being survivors, and half as yet uninfected. The survivors can go back to work. Do the uninfected still stay home to avoid getting infected? Or do they deliberately expose themselves to a dangerous disease, so they can go back to earning a salary -- if they survive that is? Boy is that bizarre. And what happens to social distancing? Do the uninfected wear special clothing to tell everybody they're still social distancing, so stay away from them?

IOW, what should be the symbol of the Branch Covidians? :^) Me, I'm sticking to the hermitage, got my sani in me pocket. Fighting toe to toe, eyeball to eyeball, with the fire ants.

[Jim Koepke]

So far all of the societies that have been able to curb the spread of corvid-19 did it by testing the population and keeping those infected apart from the rest of the population.

Maybe the problem here is our tests are so beautiful, they are being kept on display instead of in the hands of medical professionals.

The second part of the problem is the time between first learning of covid-19 and responding was squandered with rhetoric instead of action.

This will not sort itself out. Once the rate of new infections drop to zero and people are no longer contagious, life can get back to normal. Hopefully before the virus cycles through the southern hemisphere a vaccine will be developed to keep us from having a recurrence next fall.

jtk

[Doug Dawson]

So far all of the societies that have been able to curb the spread of corvid-19 did it by testing the population and keeping those infected apart from the rest of the population.

Maybe the problem here is our tests are so beautiful, they are being kept on display instead of in the hands of medical professionals.

The second part of the problem is the time between first learning of covid-19 and responding was squandered with rhetoric instead of action.

This will not sort itself out. Once the rate of new infections drop to zero and people are no longer contagious, life can get back to normal. Hopefully before the virus cycles through the southern hemisphere a vaccine will be developed to keep us from having a recurrence next fall.

A hard lockdown, the testier the better, for as long as it takes, is the answer (from the best expert advice that I have found.) And the harder it gets, the shorter it will be.

I am _amazed_ by the number of cars still on the road, heard off in the distance, even now. We're supposed to be under shelter-in-place restrictions.

[Joe Hendershott]

I am _amazed_ by the number of cars still on the road, heard off in the distance, even now. We're supposed to be under shelter-in-place restrictions.

I would only point out that there are some people (I am not one of them) that still have to work, that if they do not work they may not have food for themselves and family. They do not others to help them out or the local resources are so taxed they are of little help.

There are those who don't care amd will never care about their actions and the consequences to others.

There are plenty of people that just do not trust or believe the government.

These things, and many others, explain the people out on the roads.

[Jason Roehl]

Traffic on the roads is way down locally. But, the list of "essential" businesses is extensive. And, I think you would be very surprised at what is involved in the supply chain to keep hospitals and grocery stores up and going. There are a lot of links in those supply chains.

For example, my wife works for a decent-sized, regional electrical supply company. Essential? Much of the business probably isn't. But they do supply various repair parts to hospitals and factories. Then you need electricians to install them. Electricians need to get to work, but their vans break down. They need mechanics. Mechanics need auto parts. Auto parts stores need workers. And factories to make the parts. And warehouses to distribute them via truck drivers, and on and on...you get the picture. We've been a JIT global economy for many years now, so all those links need to be there because we don't have reserves of inventory in many durable good sectors.

[Ole Anderson]

I see a lot of negative rhetoric about non-essential businesses still going just to keep making profit. Doesn’t make it right, but many small business owners are scared to death they will loose their business that they put their life savings into and which employs many folks that are now friends. They feel a responsibility to keep them employed. Not about profit, it is about survival.

[Jim Becker]

I see a lot of negative rhetoric about non-essential businesses still going just to keep making profit. Doesn’t make it right, but many small business owners are scared to death they will loose their business that they put their life savings into and which employs many folks that are now friends. They feel a responsibility to keep them employed. Not about profit, it is about survival.

Very true. But "survival" has more than one meaning here...that's the conundrum.

[Rod Sheridan]

A hard lockdown, the testier the better, for as long as it takes, is the answer (from the best expert advice that I have found.) And the harder it gets, the shorter it will be.

I am _amazed_ by the number of cars still on the road, heard off in the distance, even now. We're supposed to be under shelter-in-place restrictions.

Hi Doug, where I live gasoline is around 0.70/l down from about 1.20/l. The rods are almost empty.

I’m at the end of week 2 of work from home, my company will probably extend this for another few weeks.

My daughter is a nurse, when you wind up putting people on a ventilator, they need to be sedated and in ICU, that’s the issue, tying up enormous amounts of healthcare resources.

We probably need to stay locked down for months.....Rod

[Wade Lippman]

I am _amazed_ by the number of cars still on the road, heard off in the distance, even now. We're supposed to be under shelter-in-place restrictions.

Well, most days you will see me on the road. I take my dog to an out of the way place and walk her for an hour or two. We only see a couple people, and stay 10' away from them. You got a problem with that?

OP... the only way we are getting back to normal in a few months is if it turns out to be strongly seasonal, or a great treatment turns up.

[Doug Dawson]

Well, most days you will see me on the road. I take my dog to an out of the way place and walk her for an hour or two. We only see a couple people, and stay 10' away from them. You got a problem with that?

Nope. Is this a Subaru commercial? :^)

[Edwin Santos]

Maybe the problem here is our tests are so beautiful, they are being kept on display instead of in the hands of medical professionals.

The second part of the problem is the time between first learning of covid-19 and responding was squandered with rhetoric instead of action.

jtk

The tests here in the US are not just beautiful, they're tremendous!

As to your comment on responsiveness, I think you're spot on. Some countries that have managed this very well include Singapore and Taiwan. They responded immediately, and even before the WHO started making noise, even at the risk of overreacting. These countries got their training the hard way during SARS so their governments were ready to respond an their citizens were on board, at least in terms of familiarity.
Here in the US, it seems it's our first rodeo. At least it sure feels that way.
Edwin

P.S. As to the OP question, it's a valid one, but who can possibly answer it at this point?

[Doug Dawson]

The tests here in the US are not just beautiful, they're tremendous!

As to your comment on responsiveness, I think you're spot on. Some countries that have managed this very well include Singapore and Taiwan. They responded immediately, and even before the WHO started making noise, even at the risk of overreacting. These countries got their training the hard way during SARS so their governments were ready to respond an their citizens were on board, at least in terms of familiarity.
Here in the US, it seems it's our first rodeo. At least it sure feels that way.
Edwin

P.S. As to the OP question, it's a valid one, but who can possibly answer it at this point?

Well, I can. As a society, we don't believe in human sacrifice, last time I checked.

We've grown past throwing old people into volcanoes (although some young people are still volunteering and stepping up to the plate.)

[Kev Williams]

Guess it also depends on perspective... The wife just got off the phone with her sister, who's son is an RN in Texas. WHERE in Texas we don't know, but he was telling his mom 'don't believe everything you hear'... But not because of the actual mis-info that is running amok, seems he's disillusioned because the hospital he works at has plenty of empty beds, masks and ventilators yet they're laying him off because there's nothing to do, to the point they may close the place temporarily. Obviously this hospital is NOT a big city place and likely the populace is hunkered down and nobody's sick at the moment. If he's not been glued to a TV in his off time, and many people aren't, then his perspective may be 'what's all the fuss about?'...

Third hand from the wife, I don't know much else about the situation...