Good points. There are too many variables, and unknown changes to said variables for us to predict an optimal long term policy for handling this. Thinking of i

Good points. There are too many variables, and unknown changes to said variables for us to predict an optimal long term policy for handling this. Thinking of it as objectively as I can, I can't see a scenario where the country keeps functioning well with the massive, rapid number of deaths associated with Covid-19. I know people die by the thousands in car accidents and other things. But at least in the short term, the widespread panic from a novel disease in ~2x/day geometric growth with 0.5-1.0% death rate (at best) would far exceed in severity anything we've ever seen. Imagine Italy with no lockdown, would that be conducive to a healthy, or just mildly impacted economy? I don't see it. We had time to act, we didn't, now every option is bad, and now we're feeling the pain of the "less bad" option.