…does not necessarily mean that the area under the curve diminishes.
Before getting out of bed the other morning, I asked CVH (Masters, Public Health) about corona lockdowns. There won’t be a vaccine for at least a year. Consequently, until enough people get sick and develop immunity (assuming they develop immunity; that is not clear at this point), lifting the lockdowns will just cause infections to soar as if there had never been lockdowns. I asked her, therefore, if the lockdowns are lifted before the widespread administration of a vaccine, are we just prolonging the inevitable?
“Yes,” she said. “Epidemiology science tells us the only way to control a pandemic like this would have been to have widespread testing early on. We didn’t, and we don’t, so it’s just going to run its course through the population regardless.”
Economists quoted in The Wall Street Journal estimate current unemployment to be around thirteen to fifteen percent. If the lockdowns aren’t lifted, Great Depression level unemployment is certain.
“So, it’s guaranteed that we’re going to see mass deaths, or a major economic depression, or both?” I asked.
“That’s right,” she replied, ruining my whole day.
