So if we wait around for a vaccine we're looking at 18 months mostly cooped up

[conuly]

Which is awful. Of course, other people are suggesting we say "Fuck it, let the geezers die" and just go back to "normal".

This is a terrible idea in many, many ways, but if I know one thing it is that there is no shortage of powerful people who like to promote terrible ideas. If the unthinkable happens and the awful plan ever gets put into place, about how long would it be until everybody was either immune or dead, do you think?

Comments

[elf]

The media is reporting heavily on the chance of death, and reporting the numbers of people who've died. We aren't getting news reports about how many people were admitted to the hospital (and of course, we're not getting the slightest hint of reporting about what that costs), and we're not hearing about things like "chance of permanent lung damage" nor "three weeks in intensive care, unable to walk from bed to bathroom because you can't get enough air for that."

People think the disease is either "you are fairly healthy and you will be fine, just uncomfortable; it'll be like the flu" or "you will keel over dead the moment you're diagnosed."

Reading between the gaps of what's being reported: We don't know how long it lasts. I'm not hearing "for non-critical/mild cases, it's about 2-3 weeks of [symptoms]." I think people are mistaking the "two weeks' quarantine" for "it lasts two weeks" instead of "it takes no more than two weeks to hit."

Looking around: Mild cases seem to last 10-14 days. But I suspect people aren't thinking of quarantine as "2 weeks if you don't have it; a month of isolation if you do."

I get it; the media are trying hard to push "do this or else PEOPLE DIE!!!" but they've forgotten to cover "hey, if people don't die, they can still be pretty damn miserable, so... don't put yourself in that situation either."

(Also, mainstream news seems to assume people are compassionate and care about the health of their families and friends. In some communities, that's a "citation needed" situation; there's a number of people who think "God will protect the devout" so they don't need to take any precautions.)