I mean, that’s exactly what terrifies me. What if we develop vaccines and antibodies and novel corona virus becomes a normal thing that people don’t take seriously? Flash forward to 2028: Oh gosh, I have a cough, I’m sick with that corona or whatever but I need to show up to work for this big presentation. It’s no big deal because the people around me will just get sick and recover. Where I work, you’re expected to show up if you have a cough or whatever. I used to have an officemate with two kids who caught every single disease going around because she had kids and she never had sick leave because she had two kids and it’s like I never gave it a second thought and accepted that I would be 100% be sick for a few days a year because that was part of the plan.
How many people’s parents died because of this attitude? What if this handwashing craze becomes a regular everyday thing and we all started ostracizing people who showed up to work sick? Imagine if every year we took basic precautions against respiratory diseases and the flu only killed 30,000 instead of 60,000 people a year and maybe grandma has 3-4 extra years to live. Plus, we all get to stay home and play videogames when we’re sick instead of shuffling off to work.
Fuck me, man, what is the downside here? We need to take the flu and colds very seriously every single year, even when there isn’t a spooky novel zoonotic virus running buck wild. Just fucking wash your hands as a matter of course, guys. Stay home if you don’t feel well. Someone’s grandma could be at risk. Never accept the idea that you should have to show up to work wehen you’re sick and might infect other people.
Just heard my neighbor step out on the porch and tell his boss he’ll go in to work tomorrow, but his co-worker really needs to let them know the test results ASAP. He’ll shut the restaurant down if it’s positive. WAASCF. Cliffs on the linked article: UW model predicts 1400 dead in WA by July 1, 81,000+ nationwide assuming we all practice social distancing and keep current measures in place until late May/early June. Numbers are subject to change with more data.
The complaining from the White House is going to be super irritating and it’s going to last for 2 months. This ride we’re on has surpassed my expectations by so much I feel dumb.
We tried cutting car crash fatalities in half with the 55 MPH speed limit.The main reason was to make us less dependent on OPEC - but the car crashes were touted. “55 saves lives.” People decided overwhelmingly they’d rather get to where they were going faster.
There’s something to it. If we banned cars, car crash fatalities would be zero. If human lives were everything, we would.
But then you get into the whole argument about killing the economy = more lives lost.
For the first time in my life I feel we need a philosopher to settle something.
By god, this is what terrifies me the most. What if it’s 2028 and we all just accept that coronavirus is a regular seasonal bug that comes through every year and kills a few tens of thousands of old people on top of the flu or whatever. We don’t lift a finger to stop it because it’s just a regular part of the plan. We all stop washing our hands and practicing social distancing when we are sick because we’ve collectively given up.
But of course. Crazy-ass bugs have tried to kill us many times in the past, we’ve always recovered. My point is that some of the lessons and skills we’re learning from this ordeal need to become regular things we do every year. Wash your hands before you eat. Don’t show up to work if you’re sick --you’re not a trooper, you’re an asshole. Quarantine yourself if you think you’re contagious. Maybe the fast food workers who make your food should have some sick leave, how about that. How about those masks the Japanese and South Koreans wear during a normal flu season, maybe we should think about appropriating them. Maybe if we get serious about this shit every year grandmas and immunodeficient people might be around a bit longer.
Try running into a semi or concrete pillar head on at 80 vs. 55 and get back to me. Try slamming on the brakes to avoid something when you’re going one vs the other.
Unless they’ve been bought out by vulture capitalists or something, Consumer Reports is one of the few sources I will always trust w/o question. I don’t even know if they exist anymore. But those guys always did it right.