I took a lot of flak for arguing that, far from curing this pandemic, martial law-like restrictions and shutdowns (in business, education, sport, entertainment, etc.) were just causing pandemonium. Little did I know that South Korea was proving my point. (Incidentally, so too were Sweden and Singapore.)
South Korea was in the vanguard of nations fighting large outbreaks of this virus. But here in a nutshell is why it is now the standard-bearer when it comes to “flattening the curve” of new infections:
[I]t has done so without China’s draconian restrictions on speech and movement, or economically damaging lockdowns like those in Europe and the United States. …
As global deaths from the virus surge past 15,000, officials and experts worldwide are scrutinizing South Korea for lessons. And those lessons, while hardly easy, appear relatively straightforward and affordable: swift action, widespread testing and contact tracing, and critical support from citizens.
(The New York Times, March 23, 2020)
In other words, like I said from the outset, lockdowns (i.e., shutdown of all non-essential businesses and stay-at-home orders) are no more necessary to fight this coronavirus than they were to fight others like swine flu. But I fear trying to emulate South Korea at this point would be tantamount to putting a Band-Aid on a gaping, self-inflicted wound.
So we self-isolate and go stir-crazy as we watch our nation’s slow-motion descent into depression (economic as well as mental). And all this while the coronavirus is still having its way …
But nothing betrays how untenable America’s strategy for fighting this war is quite like this:
- Dr. Fauci, the “virus tsar”, conceded this week that coronavirus will likely become a seasonal phenomenon like the flu. But does anyone think anyone in America is prepared to fight this virus for any other season with the restrictions and shutdowns we’re now suffering (and dying) under?
I. Don’t. Think. So.
For a little perspective, however, it bears repeating that we already have a flu vaccine and it still kills over 50,000 Americans and over 500,000 people globally every year. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of Americans who die annually from other preventable causes like gun violence and tobacco. Why aren’t their lives worthy of this kind of war effort?
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