Covid-19: So now what?

[Baron]

Ok, since this Covid debacle began...

We locked down the entire country, so we were all stuck at home for months.
We shut down pretty much anything that would be considered a large gathering like sports events, concerts, etc.
We abandoned big office buildings in dense areas.
We slowly reopened and required everybody to wear masks in public.
We now have Covid testing everywhere.
We've practiced social distancing.
We've limited our contact with the outside world dramatically.

And, the result? Record numbers of Covid cases on a daily basis. Over 144,000 new cases just yesterday.

I think it's pretty clear that nothing we've done has amounted to anything, so now what?

 

[CaptainObvious]

Most of what you listed we have done in a half measured way. Had we done it full measure the economic catastrophe would have been incalculable.
Much of the higher case count is due to more testing, so I am not sure the spread is any greater now than previous months.
What we do now is continue with prudent precautions and wait for a vaccine. While waiting medical treatments will continue to improve and the survival rate will still be better than 99% for the overwhelming majority of the population. In short, there is no need for panic.

 

[notagain]

China virus is unnaturally contagious.....wait for the vaccine and herd immunity. How does the world defend against another viral-economic attack? Biden and big corporations have no loyalty to themselves or each other. A country can not survive without loyalty.

 

[Wallet]

Ok, since this Covid debacle began...

We locked down the entire country, so we were all stuck at home for months.
We shut down pretty much anything that would be considered a large gathering like sports events, concerts, etc.
We abandoned big office buildings in dense areas.
We slowly reopened and required everybody to wear masks in public.
We now have Covid testing everywhere.
We've practiced social distancing.
We've limited our contact with the outside world dramatically.

And, the result? Record numbers of Covid cases on a daily basis. Over 144,000 new cases just yesterday.

I think it's pretty clear that nothing we've done has amounted to anything, so now what?

The Chinese had success with lockdowns because they basically locked the entire nation at home for 2 months at gun point. Unless a country has that kind of authoritarian rule, lockdowns only slow the inevitable, at best.

Small community mandates are pointless as people just go outside the area.

I seriously doubt there are too many people blatantly breaking the rules anymore. I live in red-neck central and everyone wears masks, social distancing to some degree. Imo, the only way to further decrease the spread would be to start closing down businesses again, but I don’t think people want that? Things are just starting to get back to some type or normalcy.

I will agree that the amount of people affected now is larger than earlier in the year. Hospitals are full or close but I don’t see deaths increasing, at least in these parts?

We either go back into lockdown or we learn to deal with this pandemic on a much larger scale till it runs it’s course. Maybe take a page or two from history and look at what worked during the Spanish Flu, that bug was much more deadly and they combatted it without modern medicine.

Take the practical aspects of treating large populations and add our knowledge. But we’ve still got a ways to go before a good vaccine is widely available.

 

[HobbyTrading]

Ok, since this Covid debacle began...

We locked down the entire country, so we were all stuck at home for months.
We shut down pretty much anything that would be considered a large gathering like sports events, concerts, etc.
We abandoned big office buildings in dense areas.
We slowly reopened and required everybody to wear masks in public.
We now have Covid testing everywhere.
We've practiced social distancing.
We've limited our contact with the outside world dramatically.

And, the result? Record numbers of Covid cases on a daily basis. Over 144,000 new cases just yesterday.

I think it's pretty clear that nothing we've done has amounted to anything, so now what?

You claim "we did <this>, we did <that>". My impression is that about half the population did not do these things as they do not believe in them. So it is no wonder that the virus can still find enough new victims.

 

[maxinger]

SAR affected mainly Asian countries.
So when Covid 19 surfaced, the Asian countries were rather prepared.
The Europeans and Americans didn't think Covid 19 would be disastrous.
They were not well prepared.

 

[Pekelo]

I seriously doubt there are too many people blatantly breaking the rules anymore.

Never underestimate people's stupidity. In Trump areas people go into stores without masks and for example Walmart doesn't enforce their rule of mask wearing. (personal experience all summer long) In several counties the spread is still low and people have a hard time to acknowledge that there is a pandemic going on because they don't know anybody who got it or specially died from it.

That is why the Midwest is so screwed right now. They missed out on the first wave and this autumn hit them specially hard. Also there is the pandemic fatigue, after 10 months of restrictions people have a hard time to keep their guard up.

But this is not happening only in America, in some European countries it is 2-3 times worse right now. The weather changing, vit D levels dropping, getting indoors and you have a perfect storm. Add holidays with family gatherings and we are screwed!

As going back to Baron's question, what now? The same what we did in the last 10 months, take your vitamins and Zinc + ionophore, distance yourself, see your family on Skype only, wear a mask and wash your hands. It is really not that hard.

Vaccination is already on the way for health workers by December, for the elderly Jan-Feb and by the spring for the rest. It is really sad that people are giving up literally at the finish line, and another 100K will die unnecessarily.

 

[Frederick Foresight]

I think it's pretty clear that nothing we've done has amounted to anything, so now what?

Nonsense. After a slow start, people got careless. COVID fatigue, or whatever. Then they started having get-togethers, feeling they already "did their part." The result was predictable.

To make matters worse, Trump made mask wearing and social distancing political. So almost half of the people in the US were not paying attention; they were just phoning it in, if that.

And then, you guys just had an election along with the rallies and crowds that go with it.

Here in Canada, we also have a spike in cases. Not coincidentally, this followed our Thanksgiving holiday which coincided with your Columbus Day. People got together.

 

[Wallet]

The situation we find ourselves was inevitable. Unless you wanted to isolate the entire population from the world and lockdown for 2 months. No one was willing to go to those extremes. Way past time to stop this political finger pointing. The entire globe is fighting this thing, it matters not who was in the white house, we would have found ourselves in basically this same situation regardless.

 

[Frederick Foresight]

The situation we find ourselves was inevitable. Unless you wanted to isolate the entire population from the world and lockdown for 2 months. No one was willing to go to those extremes.

It didn't have to be extreme. It just had to be better than it was. You can't just decide to keep your guard up every second day. This isn't about pacing yourself; it's about reasonable and ongoing diligence.