yeah, this is why we have trouble slowing the spread. Sheer ingorance. Lawmaker trying to rest on the unproven theory of herd stupidity. GOP state lawmaker says he would like 'to see more people' get coronavirus to build herd immunity
So you think we will figure a way to eradicate this virus? Or will we manage it like we do other viruses?
Like everyone I'm curious what happens to the death rate over the next couple weeks, but I thought these graphs tracking case increases/decreases by state since reopening was interesting: How Coronavirus Cases Have Risen Since States Reopened
Look at any other advanced country in the world. They have all stopped or substantially slowed the spread of the virus. We will have more deaths today than South Korea, an early hotspot for the disease, has had for its entire run there.
True but has any coronavirus ever been eradicated? I think we may be living with this for a while, if not forever.
Again, I don't want to defend the inept leadership in NYC. But it's the responsibility of the federal government to guide states in global issues like this. Trump announced on January 22nd that the federal govt had it totally under control. That was about 20 days after he became aware it could become an issue. February 9th, the coronavirus task force meets with governors. Governors left that meeting very concerned by the federal response. A few days later, we learn that current testing is unreliable. By February 20th, only 3 of 100+ state labs were testing for Covid-19 and only about 60 tests a day in the US were being administered. On Feb 22nd the federal government asks states to only test people with severe cases, despite information that many people could be asymptomatic. The same day a new york resident gets sick, leading to a massive outbreak in New York. NOTE THAT THE FEDERAL GOVT HAD YET TO CALL FOR SOCIAL DISTANCING AT THIS TIME. February 24th, Trump says, the Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA February 28th - Govt announces they will increase testing and hope to have testing in every state by early March. By this time, the early outbreak in NYC is well underway, we just don't know it yet. March 2 - Pence admits it is now about mitigation and not containment. March 9th - Trump says the country doesn't shut down for the Flu. March 10th - New York state sets up a one-mile containment zone around New Rochelle, where the first outbreak started, and announces large gatherings should be canceled for 14 days. This is without federal govt guidance on social distancing. March 13th - Trump declares a national emergency. Too late for NYC. March 16th - federal government finally announces that we should practice social distancing. At this point the US is still only testing about 7000 people per day. OK, so I show you all of that to illustrate how the federal govt provided very little testing, and very little support to the states until it was too late. By the time the federal government had suggested social distancing NYC was already in the grips of a pandemic. I IN NO WAY, suggest that the NYC leadership did a good job with it, but they received at best, very little guidance, and at worst, were convinced it was not an issue, by those in charge at the federal level.
Eradication seems unlikely at this point, given the spread, but we can probably contain it and live with it with effective vaccination. Really, we have no choice but to live with it anymore. That's the sad truth.
I don't know the nuances of the various strands of coronavirus. I was simply responding to a post that said we've never stopped any virus, which is demonstrably false. I have read elsewhere that they typically mutate, like the flu, so that's another issue. We may develop a vaccine for THIS strand, but if it mutates a way the vaccine doesn't cover, then it will be no different than giving last year's flu shot to everyone this year. BTW, I agree with you about duration. There are typically 3 ways viruses are stopped it seems: 1. Vaccine 2. Herd immunity 3. They die out. Too soon to tell if 3 will happen. 1 is 12-18 months away and 2 is longer than that. As someone above said, the point of this is to get the RO under 1 and keep it there. Other countries have done it, time will tell if we can as our outbreak seems to have been much more sporadic/staggered than other countries-as we have 50 governors and hundreds of mayors making decisions. We've had no "one voice" in the US, like in NZ SKorea to impose the same rules on everyone, also possibly known as the price of freedom. NY/tristate area was the worst because it was a point of entry AND the densest part of the country, but its not like the suburban south and midwest has it much better under control today. Look at the graph I posted upthread. Sone states have had case increases of 1,000% since reopening, others have decreased.
Thanks for clearing that up for others. I understand all of your points. I know there has been a lot of conjecture about getting Covid more than once and have scoured articles for the incidence of this, not much there where some has gotten it twice. It's no guarantee however its far less likely to cause severe illness if you have antibodies. If that wasn't true then a vaccine would be a worthless endeavor.
Good job let’s keep everyone quarantined for a few decades as we work on a vaccine that’s safe. Oh and smallpox is THE only virus to ever be eradicated and for very special reasons. Smallpox: The Most Talked About Eradicated Disease | Viruses101 | Learn Science at Scitable The process of eradicating smallpox was long and complicated, requiring the coordinated efforts of people around the globe. Not every disease can be eradicated; it just so happened that smallpox has many characteristics that lend ease to eradication. The incubation period, the time between initial infection and visible symptoms, is relatively short, which prevents the disease from spreading undetected. The symptoms are also very distinctive, allowing for easy identification of smallpox patients. The World Health Organization put in place a "ring vaccination" method whereby vaccines weren't given only to infected people, but also to anyone who may have been exposed to an infected person. "Ring vaccination" effectively hindered the mass spread of smallpox since officials were able to isolate and treat affected areas early. In remote areas, World Health Organization workers tracked down infected persons by showing locals pictures of people with smallpox symptoms and asking if they had seen anyone with them. Luckily for humans, smallpox only infects us. The lack of of an animal reservoir really aided in eradicating the disease.
I just listed one virus. Also a HUGE difference between control and eradication. We control SARS, MERS, Ebola, Whooping cough (just got a TDAP for my new baby), mumps, measles, rubella, and on and on and on Some of these we manage with vaccines, others we manage with public health and epidemiological approaches like contact tracing, wearing masks (much more common in asian countries) etc. So yes, to your original post, YES, we can contain the spread of viruses.
We control viruses after many years of studies, trail and error, and unfortunately many sick and dead. So no, we cannot stop coronavirus as I said. Unless everyone is willing to stay locked down for many more months, new cases will happen. guess what, sometime in the future there will be a new virus that will cause us harm that we will have to figure out again.
Had we taken defensive actions more quickly and done more testing in February I doubt it would be as bad right now. Also had we been more conservative in reopening things also wouldn't be as bad. We could have managed this process way better, and managed the situation way better, but both our government, the politicization of the virus, and the stubbornness of our own people have prevented that. Trying to wave that away by saying we could have never controlled this is just plain wrong.
What if the rest of the world eradicates it but the U.S. doesn't? Much of the rest of the world has almost done it. The epicenter in Italy just had their first day with ZERO cases in the hospital since the outbreak began. We'll be treated like North Korea. Nobody will want to come here, nobody will accept our visitors for fears of Americans spreading the virus. Is our destiny to be the new isolated hermit kingdom? Thanks Trump.
