[OutsiderFan]

Sigh.

Early, cautious action is better than inaction because there's "not enough data."  Look at New Zealand.  They didn't wait for "sufficient" data to take action.  And now they have sports and bars and normal lives.

The parallels between denying Covid-19 impact and climate change are unmistakable. I wonder how many people truly understand the science (and logic) for a warming planet as a result of excessive C02 emissions and the myriad implications. It’s akin to people thinking Covid-19 is just a flu and totally whistling past the graveyard regarding long-term impacts.

Lex, please explain why the truth is so upsetting. You are correct that not everyone who is infected by our celebrity virus will suffer long-term. It is also correct that there is compelling evidence of effectively no immunity once getting it, and that at least 10% of people who do will endure long term complications. It’s less than a year since we discovered the virus, but let’s downplay the impacts even when evidence is available to show it is worse than initially assumed?

It’s not accurate to call this “cherry picking” because these conclusions are based on observation and data. So what you are effectively saying is it’s not that many people, why worry? Easy to say if you aren’t one who rolls snake eyes or pulls the shortest straw. But to be clear, I’m far more concerned about the long term damage to our economy than I am about the health of dumbasses who get sick because they flouted the guidance to prevent infection.

If just 10% of the population gets Covid-19, and just 10% of that number has long term health issues thereafter, that’s over 3 million people who drive up the cost of healthcare writ large, and aren’t as productive. We already have an aging population and birth rate is dropping. How do we compete with other countries when our people are not as healthy? How do we compete with so many resources in health care and so much potential lost productivity? Like climate change, how does it make sense to wait until the problem is so large it can’t be stopped, before recognizing the gravity of the situation and no longer dismissing the threat? When do you decide not to own a beachfront property? When the rising sea laps up against the porch after you buy it, or when you learn data projects the sea could be at the porch within 5 years?

[OutsiderFan]

Sigh.

Early, cautious action is better than inaction because there's "not enough data."  Look at New Zealand.  They didn't wait for "sufficient" data to take action.  And now they have sports and bars and normal lives.

The parallels between denying Covid-19 impact and climate change are unmistakable. I wonder how many people truly understand the science (and logic) for a warming planet as a result of excessive C02 emissions and the myriad implications. It’s akin to people thinking Covid-19 is just a flu and totally whistling past the graveyard regarding long-term impacts.

Lex, please explain why the truth is so upsetting. You are correct that not everyone who is infected by our celebrity virus will suffer long-term. It is also correct that there is compelling evidence of effectively no immunity once getting it, and that at least 10% of people who do will endure long term complications. It’s less than a year since we discovered the virus, but let’s downplay the impacts even when evidence is available to show it is worse than initially assumed?

It’s not accurate to call this “cherry picking” because these conclusions are based on observation and data. So what you are effectively saying is it’s not that many people, why worry? Easy to say if you aren’t one who rolls snake eyes or pulls the shortest straw. But to be clear, I’m far more concerned about the long term damage to our economy than I am about the health of dumbasses who get sick because they flouted the guidance to prevent infection.

If just 10% of the population gets Covid-19, and just 10% of that number has long term health issues thereafter, that’s over 3 million people who drive up the cost of healthcare writ large, and aren’t as productive. We already have an aging population and birth rate is dropping. How do we compete with other countries when our people are not as healthy? How do we compete with so many resources in health care and so much potential lost productivity? Like climate change, how does it make sense to wait until the problem is so large it can’t be stopped, before recognizing the gravity of the situation and no longer dismissing the threat? When do you decide not to own a beachfront property? When the rising sea laps up against the porch after you buy it, or when you learn data projects the sea could be at the porch within 5 years?