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I agree with most of your points, but I'm a bit puzzled by this one: > a lockdown does not come without its own harmful ramifications: delaying health interven

I agree with most of your points, but I'm a bit puzzled by this one: > a lockdown does not come without its own harmful ramifications: delaying health interventions, The other harms make sense, but as I understand it, the main point of a pandemic lockdown is to ensure that the healthcare system can cope. During a pandemic, the lion's share of medical resources are dedicated to dealing with the pandemic. Making the pandemic worse by prematurely easing lockdowns will further delay health interventions. Hospitals are currently postponing even life-saving procedures if they think their patients can survive a bit longer without them, because they don't have enough intensive care capacity in case things go wrong. That won't get better just because of a policy decision to return society to BAU. I can have a phone consultation with my GP if I have any health concerns, and if he has concerns, arrangements can be made for an in-person consultation. I am likely to miss my next regular dental checkup due to the pandemic, and that may mean that what could have been a filling might now be a crown. However, given the proximity of dentists to people's breathing holes, opening them up too early is likely to cause more problems than it solves.

s1artibartfast 6y ago
>Hospitals are currently postponing even life-saving procedures if they think their patients can survive a bit longer without them, because they don't have enough intensive care capacity in case things go wrong. That won't get better just because of a policy decision to return society to BAU. There is very little stress on the intensive care capacity in most locations. If you are shutting down hospitals that don't have covid-19 cases because you might need capacity at some unspecified time in the future, you are doing it wrong.
- nucleardog 6y ago
  > If you are shutting down hospitals that don't have covid-19 cases because you might need capacity at some unspecified time in the future, you are doing it wrong. Disagree. Being proactive rather than reactive is how many other places have managed to have much better outcomes with this virus thusfar.
  - s1artibartfast 6y ago
    I agree that some level of proactive behavior is positive, but there is a point at which it becomes negligent. In New York it took 3 weeks of exponential growth before hospitals were approaching max capacity. Hospitals with zero/minimal utilization should not be turning away patients. For example, if patients need a 1 or 2 day stay for cardiac or cancer procedure, you have plenty of time to ramp down admissions.

s1artibartfast 6y ago

>Hospitals are currently postponing even life-saving procedures if they think their patients can survive a bit longer without them, because they don't have enough intensive care capacity in case things go wrong. That won't get better just because of a policy decision to return society to BAU. There is very little stress on the intensive care capacity in most locations. If you are shutting down hospitals that don't have covid-19 cases because you might need capacity at some unspecified time in the future, you are doing it wrong.

nucleardog 6y ago
> If you are shutting down hospitals that don't have covid-19 cases because you might need capacity at some unspecified time in the future, you are doing it wrong. Disagree. Being proactive rather than reactive is how many other places have managed to have much better outcomes with this virus thusfar.
- s1artibartfast 6y ago
  I agree that some level of proactive behavior is positive, but there is a point at which it becomes negligent. In New York it took 3 weeks of exponential growth before hospitals were approaching max capacity. Hospitals with zero/minimal utilization should not be turning away patients. For example, if patients need a 1 or 2 day stay for cardiac or cancer procedure, you have plenty of time to ramp down admissions.