4 ms·

> we collectively turned away and pretended "it went away". The most vulnerable population succumbed to it and died. Everyone who could be infected was infecte

> we collectively turned away and pretended "it went away". The most vulnerable population succumbed to it and died. Everyone who could be infected was infected. This pandemic became endemic, like some but not all other pandemics. Once it's endemic, the policy interventions that were apparently controversial are less effective. Survivors become more immune than they were before. "By the toll of a billion deaths man has bought his birthright of the earth, and it is his against all comers; it would still be his were the Martians ten times as mighty as they are. For neither do men live nor die in vain."

throw0101d 2y ago
> "By the toll of a billion deaths man has bought his birthright of the earth, and it is his against all comers; it would still be his were the Martians ten times as mighty as they are. For neither do men live nor die in vain." For anyone wonder, H. G. Wells in The War of the Worlds * https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10445439-for-so-it-had-come-about-as-indeed-i-and https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10445439-for-so-it-had-come... * https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/621562-by-the-toll-of-a-billion-deaths-man-has-bought https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/621562-by-the-toll-of-a-bil...
catlikesshrimp 2y ago
This applies to diseases which are importantly but not always mortal. And very contagious. Like coronavirus Very contagious diseases which are rarely mortal never go away. Like chicken pox Not very contagious diseases which are always mortal don't spread far away. Like ebola and maybe the original pest. They require a reservoir lest they vanish forever. Very contagious and always mortal diseases are self limited, they kill whole populations. One of the downsides of a global community is that almost the whole humanity is one population. Self sufficient populations are found in the north pole. And in some island east of India called "Sentry island". I hope there are more
AmericanChopper 2y ago
> The most vulnerable population succumbed to it and died. Everyone who could be infected was infected. This explanation has some extremely obvious flaws. The world is still full of people who meet all the criteria of being particularly vulnerable to coronavirus. I doubt I’d be able to leave my house without seeing somebody who’s extremely obese or old.
- DowagerDave 2y ago
  "vulnerable" is the combination of medical characteristics and probability. "Everyone who could be infected was infected." is not accurate, but the r value is significantly lower, despite not every at-risk person being dead.
btbuildem 2y ago
Looking at it in terms of "died"/"didn't die" is such a convenient oversimplification. Lots and lots of people didn't die, but suffered greatly; many of them developed long-term consequences like organ damage (and all the chronic illness that comes with that) or disability. The claim that "survivors become more immune than they were before" is an outright lie, contradicted by an ever-growing body of research. Covid-19 does not grant you lasting immunity - it weakens the immune system, it causes neurological damage, and affects the cardiovascular system in a dramatic way. The initial policy interventions were heavy-handed in a time of chaos and relative ignorance -- and there's no place for them now. There's opportunity now to go after the method of transmission in a more systemic way, legislating "clean air" efforts to make indoor spaces less of a breeding/spreading grounds for airborne pathogens.
- ajmurmann 2y ago
  > The initial policy interventions were heavy-handed in a time of chaos and relative ignorance While I don't think we should go back to 2020 practices, I do think that what happened was less heavy-handed than we all remember. The US at least never had a real lockdown. You were always allowed to leave your house. The only places that got shut down by the government were bars, restaurants and schools. All other closures and people stopping to go out and socialize was pro-active behavior by citizens. Sure, some places required you to wear a mask, but IMO this was much less inconvenient for most people than the politically motivated outcry would make you think. I am 100% with you that we should invest in ventilation and IMO far-range UV-C light in public spaces. COVID or not, respiratory diseases suck and cost massive amounts of money each year. If we can reduce them and improve air indoors it's a huge win that we should take.
  - anamax 2y ago
    > The only places that got shut down by the government were bars, restaurants and schools. At least one SoCal city filled a skate park with sand. There's a video of harbor cops going after a guy paddle-boarding in the ocean. (There was no one within 50 yards until the water cop on the jet-ski showed up.) There were also churches where arrests happened. California closed hair salons/barbers, but personal stylists were okay if you were connected. Then again, neither did the restaurant closing. (See Newsom, French Laundry.)
lamontcg 2y ago
> Everyone who could be infected was infected. Some of us avoided being infected until we first got vaccinated.

throw0101d 2y ago

> "By the toll of a billion deaths man has bought his birthright of the earth, and it is his against all comers; it would still be his were the Martians ten times as mighty as they are. For neither do men live nor die in vain." For anyone wonder, H. G. Wells in The War of the Worlds * https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10445439-for-so-it-had-come-about-as-indeed-i-and https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10445439-for-so-it-had-come... * https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/621562-by-the-toll-of-a-billion-deaths-man-has-bought https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/621562-by-the-toll-of-a-bil...

catlikesshrimp 2y ago

This applies to diseases which are importantly but not always mortal. And very contagious. Like coronavirus Very contagious diseases which are rarely mortal never go away. Like chicken pox Not very contagious diseases which are always mortal don't spread far away. Like ebola and maybe the original pest. They require a reservoir lest they vanish forever. Very contagious and always mortal diseases are self limited, they kill whole populations. One of the downsides of a global community is that almost the whole humanity is one population. Self sufficient populations are found in the north pole. And in some island east of India called "Sentry island". I hope there are more

AmericanChopper 2y ago

> The most vulnerable population succumbed to it and died. Everyone who could be infected was infected. This explanation has some extremely obvious flaws. The world is still full of people who meet all the criteria of being particularly vulnerable to coronavirus. I doubt I’d be able to leave my house without seeing somebody who’s extremely obese or old.

DowagerDave 2y ago
"vulnerable" is the combination of medical characteristics and probability. "Everyone who could be infected was infected." is not accurate, but the r value is significantly lower, despite not every at-risk person being dead.

btbuildem 2y ago

Looking at it in terms of "died"/"didn't die" is such a convenient oversimplification. Lots and lots of people didn't die, but suffered greatly; many of them developed long-term consequences like organ damage (and all the chronic illness that comes with that) or disability. The claim that "survivors become more immune than they were before" is an outright lie, contradicted by an ever-growing body of research. Covid-19 does not grant you lasting immunity - it weakens the immune system, it causes neurological damage, and affects the cardiovascular system in a dramatic way. The initial policy interventions were heavy-handed in a time of chaos and relative ignorance -- and there's no place for them now. There's opportunity now to go after the method of transmission in a more systemic way, legislating "clean air" efforts to make indoor spaces less of a breeding/spreading grounds for airborne pathogens.

ajmurmann 2y ago
> The initial policy interventions were heavy-handed in a time of chaos and relative ignorance While I don't think we should go back to 2020 practices, I do think that what happened was less heavy-handed than we all remember. The US at least never had a real lockdown. You were always allowed to leave your house. The only places that got shut down by the government were bars, restaurants and schools. All other closures and people stopping to go out and socialize was pro-active behavior by citizens. Sure, some places required you to wear a mask, but IMO this was much less inconvenient for most people than the politically motivated outcry would make you think. I am 100% with you that we should invest in ventilation and IMO far-range UV-C light in public spaces. COVID or not, respiratory diseases suck and cost massive amounts of money each year. If we can reduce them and improve air indoors it's a huge win that we should take.
- anamax 2y ago
  > The only places that got shut down by the government were bars, restaurants and schools. At least one SoCal city filled a skate park with sand. There's a video of harbor cops going after a guy paddle-boarding in the ocean. (There was no one within 50 yards until the water cop on the jet-ski showed up.) There were also churches where arrests happened. California closed hair salons/barbers, but personal stylists were okay if you were connected. Then again, neither did the restaurant closing. (See Newsom, French Laundry.)

lamontcg 2y ago

> Everyone who could be infected was infected. Some of us avoided being infected until we first got vaccinated.