The Time for Bold Decisions

The original intent of the lockdown was to flatten the curve to buy us enough time to increase resources at our hospital care facilities. Thankfully this resource strain is no longer the great concern that it once was about a month ago. Cross board mobilization efforts (both private and public) have helped immensely in this regard. While there still are troublesome hotspots the movement of equipment to locales where they are needed appears to be picking up steam and the wherewithal to defeat a likely crunch point exists. We have bought the time to build the capacity.

So where do we proceed from now? To begin with we need to re-examine our original lockdown rationale and take it into a less extreme phase two. As a strategy the full lockdown was always a patch not a fix. Its prime driver was winning us necessary time in the COVID-19 fight. In that regard it has succeeded. However on a biological front it offers less utility. If anything it is slowing the time to build a broader immunity. A vaccine is at least a year away from seeing the light of day and even if it is developed sooner mass production will take time to be realized. The better strategy on a go forward basis would be to lock down the most vulnerable and allow the rest of us far greater latitude.

Now it is true that we will see more infections but it is also true that the lethality rate for the disease in the general population is extremely low. Yes there are risks but we can mitigate against those. We have seen this already with the production surge. Repurposed drugs are another avenue which we are tapping with regularity.

In any case the present situation is not tenable. The forced shutdown of the economy is an unprecedented move whose consequences will likely be daunting for the future. Unemployment could hit Great Depression type numbers with many businesses operating close to the margin forced into failure. Stimulus injections will only take us so far as we attempt to squeeze more money out of virtual stones, while leveraging the financial security for future generations.

In addition the impact on a social level should not be understated. We are not a species that can live with spatial constraint. Push back will grow and we cannot afford to become increasingly authoritarian as a society in order to stifle dissent.

The break point is approaching. This should not be a left-or-right political battle. It is far more important than that. What we need are bold decisions that incorporate the broader picture beyond the disease.

Let us see if our leaders have the fortitude to make this happen.