4 ms·

This article has a nice solution: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/coronavirus-depression.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/coronavirus-

This article has a nice solution: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/coronavirus-depression.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/coronavirus-depre... . Take some of the trillions of dollars that will be spent on bailout, and spend it on building a never-before-seen amount of protective equipment. Once we have enough for everybody to wear a new heavy-duty protective suit every day, people could go back to work. It might be expensive, but still way cheaper than shutting the economy down an extra month or two.

refurb 7y ago
There is one wrinkle to that idea - compliance. Even if we did give everyone protective suits, I can guaranteed a not insignificant percentage of the country wouldn't play along.
- wincy 7y ago
  My family and I went on a walk and everyone was social distancing, then some guy jogged right past us like he didn’t care at all. Pretty annoying.
  - joaomacp 7y ago
    If only you were in China and could report on him for bad behavior...
- logicchains 7y ago
  The nice thing is, assuming the suits work correctly, it doesn't matter if other people comply. As long as you wear a suit, you'll be safe.
  - macintux 7y ago
    We’re back to the core problem of this virus: it’s not that you have a very high chance of dying from it, it’s that our system isn’t scoped to handle the high hospitalization rates. I can wear a suit, but I’m still impacted if our hospitals are overwhelmed and FEMA runs out of ice trucks for the bodies.
anonsubmit2671 7y ago
PPE isn't perfect or a magical panacea. Ask Craig Spencer, the NY ER doc who worked with Ebola in Africa, how he got it despite being careful.
- logicchains 7y ago
  >PPE isn't perfect or a magical panacea. Maybe if we invested a trillion dollars (which is an absurd amount of money) into developing and improving it, it would be.
  - jandrese 7y ago
    The lag time between that much money turning into a country-size amount of equipment that can be used by ordinary people without error might well be longer than the quarantine period. I've seen some manufacturing miracles, but that's a really tall order.
    - Balgair 7y ago
      > that can be used by ordinary people without error Social media has been great for airline oxygen mask designers as it has shown the failure rates of real world emergencies. I imagine that even with highly trained people like medical staff, the problems of proper PPE usage are just so much worse. People have a really hard time understanding things clearly. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/passengers-fail-to-wear-oxygen-masks-properly-aboard-southwest-flight.html https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/passengers-fail-to-wear-oxyg...
Wowfunhappy 7y ago
Personally, I'm not going to eat at a restaurant if I have to do it in a protective suit. It's more pleasant at that point to just stay home.

refurb 7y ago

There is one wrinkle to that idea - compliance. Even if we did give everyone protective suits, I can guaranteed a not insignificant percentage of the country wouldn't play along.

wincy 7y ago
My family and I went on a walk and everyone was social distancing, then some guy jogged right past us like he didn’t care at all. Pretty annoying.
- joaomacp 7y ago
  If only you were in China and could report on him for bad behavior...
logicchains 7y ago
The nice thing is, assuming the suits work correctly, it doesn't matter if other people comply. As long as you wear a suit, you'll be safe.
- macintux 7y ago
  We’re back to the core problem of this virus: it’s not that you have a very high chance of dying from it, it’s that our system isn’t scoped to handle the high hospitalization rates. I can wear a suit, but I’m still impacted if our hospitals are overwhelmed and FEMA runs out of ice trucks for the bodies.

anonsubmit2671 7y ago

PPE isn't perfect or a magical panacea. Ask Craig Spencer, the NY ER doc who worked with Ebola in Africa, how he got it despite being careful.

logicchains 7y ago
>PPE isn't perfect or a magical panacea. Maybe if we invested a trillion dollars (which is an absurd amount of money) into developing and improving it, it would be.
- jandrese 7y ago
  The lag time between that much money turning into a country-size amount of equipment that can be used by ordinary people without error might well be longer than the quarantine period. I've seen some manufacturing miracles, but that's a really tall order.
  - Balgair 7y ago
    > that can be used by ordinary people without error Social media has been great for airline oxygen mask designers as it has shown the failure rates of real world emergencies. I imagine that even with highly trained people like medical staff, the problems of proper PPE usage are just so much worse. People have a really hard time understanding things clearly. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/passengers-fail-to-wear-oxygen-masks-properly-aboard-southwest-flight.html https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/passengers-fail-to-wear-oxyg...

Wowfunhappy 7y ago

Personally, I'm not going to eat at a restaurant if I have to do it in a protective suit. It's more pleasant at that point to just stay home.