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My point was that lockdowns aren't necessary, and rather than jumping to lockdown, we should be looking to learn from the countries that handled the pandemic be

My point was that lockdowns aren't necessary, and rather than jumping to lockdown, we should be looking to learn from the countries that handled the pandemic better than us. In America the dialogue basically seems to just be "omg cases are rising? SHUT DOWN EVERYTHING". Not enough attention is put on the million other less destructive measures that can be taken to reduce the spread. Right now for example I'm in a third world country with a highly ranked healthcare system (above Germany). No lockdown here, hospitals aren't overwhelmed, and life is almost like normal (other than half the local businesses appearing to be out of business). There are basic measures like hand sanitizer everywhere, and needing to put it on to say enter a shopping mall. 2 weeks ago I was in the U.S., and I never really even saw that. I was in a post office, and I had to ask the cashier if they had sanitizer and she took a little bottle from the back, after which I'd imagine she put it back behind the counter as if hiding it from customers. When I took an Amtrak train nobody offered hand sanitizer or checked my temperature. I'm not saying that having hand sanitizer available is the cure to containing COVID, I'm saying that these are the absolute easiest to implement measures that even third world countries have managed to implement, and the U.S. is not even capable of that. The U.S. seems incapable of doing anything other than telling restaurants they need to shut down, which is absurd (yes there are things being done behind the scenes and I'm hand-waving a bit, but the point is that even compared to third world countries, the U.S./west appears to be immensely incompetent despite being the wealthiest countries)

wvenable 6y ago
> In America the dialogue basically seems to just be "omg cases are rising? SHUT DOWN EVERYTHING". I have relatives that live in Florida (in fact, I was Florida the day the pandemic was declared). And just a few months ago Florida just basically declared the pandemic is over -- no shut down, no mandatory masks, and the social distancing signs and materials gone. A shut down is a big stick that's needed once the exponential growth starts returning and all signs are that things are going to get overwhelmed. In this US, this is a regular issue. You say your point isn't the lockdowns aren't necessary but now it really isn't clear what your saying. If the point is the US is, in general, incompetent at this then I wouldn't disagree. But I'd argue your focus on lock downs is misplaced rather than everyone else's. The same people who don't want lock downs also don't want all those million other less destructive measures. And people who may want lock downs also want those million other less destructive measures.
UncleMeat 6y ago
But we aren’t in shut down everything mode. Basically everything, including indoor dining, has been open for months. Pretty much the only thing that is still locked down is schools.

wvenable 6y ago

> In America the dialogue basically seems to just be "omg cases are rising? SHUT DOWN EVERYTHING". I have relatives that live in Florida (in fact, I was Florida the day the pandemic was declared). And just a few months ago Florida just basically declared the pandemic is over -- no shut down, no mandatory masks, and the social distancing signs and materials gone. A shut down is a big stick that's needed once the exponential growth starts returning and all signs are that things are going to get overwhelmed. In this US, this is a regular issue. You say your point isn't the lockdowns aren't necessary but now it really isn't clear what your saying. If the point is the US is, in general, incompetent at this then I wouldn't disagree. But I'd argue your focus on lock downs is misplaced rather than everyone else's. The same people who don't want lock downs also don't want all those million other less destructive measures. And people who may want lock downs also want those million other less destructive measures.

UncleMeat 6y ago

But we aren’t in shut down everything mode. Basically everything, including indoor dining, has been open for months. Pretty much the only thing that is still locked down is schools.