Preface this is not a scientific study, I'm not a medical expert, it's an opinion like yours based some what on actual data.
You are imo totally missing the point on death counts. Deaths are down substantially across the board in many locations most likely because of medical advances/awareness in treatment, better containment in retirement homes, many people taking safety precautions on getting infected, and the average age of those getting sick. Take your pick. However, the drop in deaths has been mediocre to non-existent recently in the southern US states having this spike in cases.
In one recent 3 day period, I looked at the death rate in the US compared to Canada. 1200 extra people died in the US in that period over and above what one would expect using Canada's numbers as a guide. The numbers don't lie. There is no rational way to explain this number by anything but more infections DID result in many more deaths short term.
It matters not what the absolute death rates or and where these endless political debates go in the US. However, it is extremely misleading for you to suggest people aren't dying because of this spike in infections in several states including Florida. Might be time to stop doing that. Trying to minimilize the impact of the virus serves no purpose. We are all for opening up in a gradual, smart way. What isn't happening as it should is having everyone on board on accepted safety precautions ( with near total approval of the medical community ). Endless debate and political talk goes nowhere, it encourages some to act recklessly and increases the chances an area gets what they don't want, more lock downs or restrictions. Some may be necessary, but crowded beaches or bars were never part of a rational opening strategy.
First, thank you for prefacing your commentary appropriately and cordially. I appreciate that and will always respond in kind.
It isn't that people "aren't dying". One need only look at the statistics and see that there are actual people dying, as they have been dying during this crisis - and before - from all sorts of causes. The conversation that I have always been about is going back and forth between what the virus does to people in terms of mortality (the overall risk to a person which varies, of course, based on numerous factors of health, age, etc) vs. the
other side of the equation which no one wants to consider, and that is the economic output.
Now, before you start throwing the very emotional response of "Economics?? This is about people's LIVES!" at me, think about it for a second. I mean, honestly think about it.
If I asked you "Is it worth shutting the economy down and losing billions, people unemployed, suicides up, drug usage from anxiety, etc" all the stuff that shutting down causes to save just ONE person's life, what would you say? I know more than one person died, but lets stick to the example. Is it worth doing all that for one life?
If you say it IS worth it to save one person's life (which I cannot fathom you would) then I would ask why you aren't willing to bankrupt the world's economy to save millions from cancer. Or from diabetes. Or something else. If such a value of life is placed that saving one person means everyone else gets screwed economically, then we should be all the more willing to go nuts to cure something that affects much greater amounts of people, no?
Now, if you respond as most people would, that one person's life is NOT worth shutting the country down to save them, then it is a question of a sliding scale - of subjectivity, is it not? Meaning we have to figure out how many people it IS worth to shut the country down. Is it 10? 1000? 100,000? Somewhere in there I think you'd find anyone who would agree with you, because as death reaches a certain level, any price becomes willing to be paid.
This is the overall problem I wrestle with here, and why I refer constantly to the death rate. We have a choice to make - we can either accept that we are not going to have a vaccine any time soon and we have to figure out how to get on with our lives and accept certain truths, or we can decide to shut the world down, become wholly dependent on some sort of communism or socialist collective where the government provides everything. I think you'll find that this becomes a hard pill to swallow for many of us. You may (or may not) accept that alternative. I certainly do not.
Thanks again for being cordial.
