The Coronavirus

[David Horn]

(05-11-2020, 09:50 AM)Warren Dew Wrote:

(05-10-2020, 09:13 AM)David Horn Wrote: There is vast difference between essential services and ones that aren't. Sorry, but nail salons and gyms are luxuries, not necessities … but it's the economy, isn't it?   

I can't speak to nail salons, but I get my exercise at a ballroom dance studio.  Since it has been closed, I've gained 5 pounds, with no signs of stopping.  Closing that dance studio is increasing my risk of death more than leaving it open would be.  I imagine gyms work the same way for some people.

Limiting Covid-19 may save lives, but limiting the damage to the economy saves both lives and livelihoods.

Actually, you have it exactly backwards.  Every country that has managed to master this pandemic has concentrated on the disease first and foremost.  Show me two countries less alike politically than Australia and New Zealand, then note how similar their approach and results have been.  Look at Denmark and most of the other Scandinavian countries (Sweden being the outlier).  They have used similar approaches. In the case of the more socialist countries, they've even managed to do most of this with minimal change to business-as-usual.

Focusing on people first reduces anxiety, and high anxiety makes reentry into the economy a scary proposition.  If people think they're being treated like cannon fodder, they will act accordingly.