COVID19 Factors We Should Consider/Current Events

[poser]

I live in NYC and all gyms are closed as of 8 pm tonight by mandatory government order. How many other people in this situation? Could be months before they re-open. Love all the people telling me “just jog outside”

Unfortunately most people in nyc don’t have the space to have a home gym. I was able to negotiate a small basement area in my building where they will hopefully let me setup a rack (ordered that, weights, bench, bar today from rogue) - now just anxiously awaiting its arrival

CO followed suit a couple of hours ago.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Do you think that a government ought to exercise such control over society in this sort of situation?

If not, what would be a better move?

Seeing as how the government is not very good at controlling things, I think their involvement should be minimal. They can spend a lot of money on research and vaccine development if they want to, but they are quite incompetent at the most basic of tasks, as the CDC has demonstrated recently. If everybody is going to be exposed to this disease anyway, and it seems now that the lethality has been exaggerated, I suggest that we look at the bigger picture here and get this over with ASAP, especially considering that the economic ramifications of World Economic Collapse may well ultimately be responsible for more dead people than COVID19 itself.

CO followed suit a couple of hours ago.

But Ohio already won yesterday.

[spacediver]

Seeing as how the government is not very good at controlling things, I think their involvement should be minimal. They can spend a lot of money on research and vaccine development if they want to, but they are quite incompetent at the most basic of tasks, as the CDC has demonstrated recently. If everybody is going to be exposed to this disease anyway, and it seems now that the lethality has been exaggerated, I suggest that we look at the bigger picture here and get this over with ASAP, especially considering that the economic ramifications of World Economic Collapse may well ultimately be responsible for more dead people than COVID19 itself.

I agree that governments are often incompetent in many domains.

And I think attention needs to be given to the economic impacts: they are also complex and unpredictable.

Ultimately, public health and economic health are both about well-being, which should have currency no matter what domain we're talking about. Not to mention they aren't as distinct as the labels suggest - damaging the economy can damage biological health.

That said, society has its own distinct failure modes, one of them being (high density human interaction + novel viral pandemic = large scale fuckery).

The claim being made here is that these failure modes can be averted/mitigated with certain behavioural changes (whether enforced or voluntary, it doesn't matter - as long as the behaviour occurs). Italy and Iran did not adapt its behaviour, and other communities should learn from this mistake.

[Gerald Boggs]

This reminds me of the panic in the days after 911. Chicken Little would be proud.

[Mark Rippetoe]

This will be viewed as one of the most embarrassing events in the history of the world.

And again, if this thing was a Chinese bioweapons test (as some have suggested), we just failed it.

[Mark Le Comte]

This will be viewed as one of the most embarrassing events in the history of the world.

I doubt it. It will either be a disease that simply couldnt be stopped or a brilliant case of epidemic management. At least for most people.

[Mark Rippetoe]

A brilliant case of epidemic management? I am amazed. Stupefied. Doesn't happen often.

[Brian Harlin]

In another example of government incompetence, the Mayor of Reno held a press conference today requiring a mandatory shutdown of all non essential businesses. In this speech, she clearly stated that essential businesses are: gas stations, grocery stores, and medical facilities. She obviously has ruffled many feathers as she has since come out with 2 clarifications of her speech which of course are not clarifying at all. In addition the county health department issued a statement that they have not suggested that restaurants, bars or gyms or any other establishment close and referred all questions to the city. What a total cluster fuck.

[Mark Le Comte]

Dont get me wrong, Im not saying it is brilliant, just that it will be reported in some circles as such if it is better than worst case scenarios.

[EyeMD]

You are quite correct that the cat is likely already out of the bag and widespread infection of the populace is now likely. From a policy standpoint we have shifted from an infection containment strategy to one of mitigation of the effects of the pandemic. However, we desperately need to avoid “getting this over ASAP” as the spike in demand for healthcare services in that setting will far outstrip our ability to provide care, not just for those with COVID but for anyone else who has the misfortune of suffering a major medical event during the pandemic. If all of of our icu beds are full of patients on ventilators from COVID and you have a a stroke or heart attack, what will happen? This is exactly the scenario playing out in Italy now, where impossible triage decisions are being made and is quite likely to happen here if we don’t move aggressively to flatten the curve of infection. You’re right: The numbers of dead from the collateral damage from COVID may well outstrip those from the disease itself, even before you take the economic ramifications into account.