The Coronavirus

[David Horn]

(05-07-2021, 04:45 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: I would excuse states and localities that got hit hard early (Michigan and New Jersey), especially where COVID-19 cases were associated with the demographic of "frequent flyers", a group of comparatively old professionals with high mobility. Later surges were generally more preventable, and they often reflected workshops with sweatshop conditions, religious nutcases who believed that a disease like COVID-19 is the Will of God, and MAGA rallies.  

Cupertino, California of course has plenty of "frequent flyers". In Michigan some of the most vulnerable to COVID-19 were involved in Wayne County and Detroit law enforcement. Been there? That's one very troubled area, and when the police get sick because of the 2020 plague, you can imagine what that does to the sorts of people who call for police aid or get arrested.

Epidemiology is a well-established science, and it was as able to track COVID-19 as... HIV/AIDS. In the cases of both diseases, certain behaviors put one much more at risk. Some of those behaviors could be modified for safety. As an example, physicians got far more careful about needles after some contracted HIV/AIDS. People with addictive behaviors, as with sex and IV drugs, were far more reckless and less reachable -- let alone less likely to change their ways. For many on the Right, Donald Trump is practically an addiction in its effects upon behavior and character.

Unfortunately, even scientists have prejudices, and the prevailing wisdom of the WHO lead to months of excessive handwashing and surface cleansing.  Neither is bad, but neither was effective either.  Then there's masking which was thought to be less important, but is, in fact, the most important preventative. There's a great NY Times commentary by one of my favorite social analysts: Zeynep Tüfekçi (unfortunately long and behind their pay wall), where she dissects the entire epidemiology establishment for being locked into old ideas that were clearly wrong.  They got the transmission method wrong (large air droplets rather than aerosol), and never reexamined the evidence until it became so overwhelming that they had no choice.  We did somewhat better here, but that's faint praise.