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Reasonable people can certainly disagree about whether the cure is worse than the disease. That said, the world's governments have made a decision to react in

Reasonable people can certainly disagree about whether the cure is worse than the disease. That said, the world's governments have made a decision to react in a certain way, and I maintain that my intuition tells me that most people don't understand the real reason for the lockdowns. They think it is to prevent them personally from getting sick. That's not really true. The point is to prevent the medical infrastructure from becoming overwhelmed so that if and when people do become sick, they can be given their best shot at recovery.

yodsanklai 7y ago
> The point is to prevent the medical infrastructure from becoming overwhelmed I think this is clear for most people. I'm not American but I've watched Trump recent talk and they explained this clearly in a way everybody could understand. What they didn't explain though is the post-lockdown strategy. Most likely, in a few weeks, only a small fraction of the US population will be immune, and the problem won't be solved anymore than it was before the lockdown (except that the country is stalled). The virus will still be there, and there won't be any vaccine. I'd like them to think a few steps ahead and tell us what will be their plan.
- takeda 7y ago
  The people who are currently sick will either recover or die. Lock down can make the effective R0 below 1. When it is below 1 the disease will die on its own. Of course we would have to be locked for a very long time, but even if we won't wait that long the active infection curve will go down and buy us some time.
  - s1artibartfast 7y ago
    The disease will never die out on its own. The question raised is hat are we waiting for and how long are we willing to wait for it. If the answer is that we are waiting for nothing, perhaps we shouldn't. If the answer is that we are waiting in lock-down 1-2 years for a vaccine and vaccinations, maybe we shouldn't.

yodsanklai 7y ago

> The point is to prevent the medical infrastructure from becoming overwhelmed I think this is clear for most people. I'm not American but I've watched Trump recent talk and they explained this clearly in a way everybody could understand. What they didn't explain though is the post-lockdown strategy. Most likely, in a few weeks, only a small fraction of the US population will be immune, and the problem won't be solved anymore than it was before the lockdown (except that the country is stalled). The virus will still be there, and there won't be any vaccine. I'd like them to think a few steps ahead and tell us what will be their plan.

takeda 7y ago
The people who are currently sick will either recover or die. Lock down can make the effective R0 below 1. When it is below 1 the disease will die on its own. Of course we would have to be locked for a very long time, but even if we won't wait that long the active infection curve will go down and buy us some time.
- s1artibartfast 7y ago
  The disease will never die out on its own. The question raised is hat are we waiting for and how long are we willing to wait for it. If the answer is that we are waiting for nothing, perhaps we shouldn't. If the answer is that we are waiting in lock-down 1-2 years for a vaccine and vaccinations, maybe we shouldn't.