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And yet you did not address the issue that the health care systems will collapse. Why are you (and many others) ignoring that outcome?

Everyone seems to get tied up in the % of fatalities. Debating those numbers are a waste of energy, everyone is just cherry-picking numbers that support their own arguments. But we know for a fact that without containment measures (and even with them), this virus can result in the health care system getting overwhelmed and possibly collapsing.

This has a number of impacts, 1) Health care workers will die at a much higher rate than normal. This will have lasting impacts. 2) Anyone who needs health care for any reason will be in trouble (cancer patients, diabetes patients, pregnant women, accidents, etc...). I read somewhere that ~30% of home births require emergency hospitalization. How would our economy do if ~30% of pregnant mothers died during child birth? 3). Even without government mandated shut-downs, people will reduce economic activity to avoid the risk of getting COVID or getting into an accident that would require a hospital visit. Many companies were cancelling events and implementing WFH policies before local governments required it.

This isn't really an either/or option. The economy is going to take a massive hit regardless of the actions we take. But by implementing shut-downs we can save lives and also potentially get back to normal business faster than we would otherwise.




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