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I think at this point it’s more helpful to think about what individuals and private organizations can do rather than look to a central government organization t

by mattrp 7y ago

I think at this point it’s more helpful to think about what individuals and private organizations can do rather than look to a central government organization to solve all of our problems. See Gates Foundation decision(s) over past few days. I also know plenty of people in state orgs and can say I have a lot of confidence in them as well as the many healthcare orgs. I’m not downvoting this despite the obvious political nature in the hopes that by not turning on each other we might instead use HN to educate and drive awareness of what is being done and how we can help.

paulmd 7y ago
Establishing a completely parallel privatized set of epidemic response infrastructure, from scratch, with no official capacity/color of law/official powers, in the middle of an ongoing crisis isn't exactly a plausible suggestion. Reality is there's effectively no containing it at this point, we're well past that stage of things. Get a vaccine going ASAP, sure, but it's already sweeping through the population. Official numbers are low because we don't have any meaningful quantity of testing in place. Wherever you test, you find that it's already there. I'm not saying that to be hysterical, it's just a statement of fact. Just like my statements about how the administration has neglected and in some cases actively worsened the crisis. It just is what it is. You maybe could have significantly reduced it six or eight weeks ago, but back then we were in the "coronavirus is fake news by deep-state CDC to tank the economy" stage of things. Now, I guess you have mass quarantine, which Trump will also not do because that would tank the economy for real. People won't do it willingly because they need that money to pay rent and buy food, and you need to formulate a strategy for that too. Maybe Bill Gates can pay everyone's rent and grocery bills for a few months? Best thing at this point is to do everything you can on a personal basis to prevent spread (wash your hands), protect specific vulnerable individuals (seniors, basically) from getting infected, and hope that vaccine comes real quick. It just is what it is.
- pbourke 7y ago
  > Reality is there's effectively no containing it at this point Strong measures will still have an effect on the epidemic curve. Cancel the fucking St. Patrick's Day parade in Chicago, as an example.

by mattrp 7y ago

paulmd 7y ago

Establishing a completely parallel privatized set of epidemic response infrastructure, from scratch, with no official capacity/color of law/official powers, in the middle of an ongoing crisis isn't exactly a plausible suggestion. Reality is there's effectively no containing it at this point, we're well past that stage of things. Get a vaccine going ASAP, sure, but it's already sweeping through the population. Official numbers are low because we don't have any meaningful quantity of testing in place. Wherever you test, you find that it's already there. I'm not saying that to be hysterical, it's just a statement of fact. Just like my statements about how the administration has neglected and in some cases actively worsened the crisis. It just is what it is. You maybe could have significantly reduced it six or eight weeks ago, but back then we were in the "coronavirus is fake news by deep-state CDC to tank the economy" stage of things. Now, I guess you have mass quarantine, which Trump will also not do because that would tank the economy for real. People won't do it willingly because they need that money to pay rent and buy food, and you need to formulate a strategy for that too. Maybe Bill Gates can pay everyone's rent and grocery bills for a few months? Best thing at this point is to do everything you can on a personal basis to prevent spread (wash your hands), protect specific vulnerable individuals (seniors, basically) from getting infected, and hope that vaccine comes real quick. It just is what it is.

pbourke 7y ago
> Reality is there's effectively no containing it at this point Strong measures will still have an effect on the epidemic curve. Cancel the fucking St. Patrick's Day parade in Chicago, as an example.