The original estimates put COVID-19 at approximately 3-4%. At the time I'm writing this post, the United States has had 253,309 deaths from 11,789,304 cases, or

The original estimates put COVID-19 at approximately 3-4%. At the time I'm writing this post, the United States has had 253,309 deaths from 11,789,304 cases, or 2.14%. Without the lockdowns, without the mask mandates, without social distancing, without closing establishments where people congregate, COVID-19 easily overwhelms healthcare systems. We saw this play out in Wuhan, New York City, Italy, and elsewhere. When the healthcare capacity is overwhelmed, the results are catastrophic. It's all well and good to say, "well, 2% isn't as bad as we thought." But that's not how it is. The problem is that with 10-20% of all patients requiring hospitalization, the hospitals can't keep up. Healthcare is a finite resource. It's not just the COVID patients who suffer, it's everybody who needs hospitalization for anything. It is foolish to act as though this isn't as bad as it is.