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> And the idea that mass lockdowns can stop the spread of virus is itself a radical, new idea that's never been tried, and which has its own cadre of experts sa
by gizmondo 6y ago
> And the idea that mass lockdowns can stop the spread of virus is itself a radical, new idea that's never been tried, and which has its own cadre of experts saying it hasn't been working or is making little difference.
You probably could say "has not been tried recently", but mass quarantines has been tried since time immemorial.
- thu2111 6y agoNo. Preventative mass global quarantine has never been tried anywhere. Even quarantines in classical times were used for the already infected and known to be infectious, not everyone at once. What's being done now has no precedent.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- gizmondo 6y agoGlobal quarantine has never been tried just because there was (almost) no global travel or communication. And I think your second statement is false, preventive isolation en masse was practiced (to the extent possible) during bubonic plague.
- ashtonkem 6y agoThe name quarantine itself comes from a preventative isolation practice. But lockdowns during pandemics have been practiced occasionally, but always at the city level, due to the nature of governance during past pandemics. Famously Newton and Shakespeare did work during London lockdowns, and some Italian city states distributed fixed rations to peasants to help them stay at home. What’s new isn’t preventative quarantines, what’s new is global travel and communication.