And so,
Let me know when you figure that one out.
You just want to argue.
Not coming to these threads anymore.
I am truly done.
Have a good day.
Despite the fact that you're tapping out and won't be contributing any more to the discussion EH, I'm going to respond in what I hope will be a respectful manner and with some grace.
This is the question you pose:
"do we know how many would die with an
unchecked virus running rampant across the globe and the effect that would have on the global economy not to mention the shortage of doctors, nurses and other front line workers that would be the result?
No we do not know that, it is an unknown. However there are some things that we do now know that we didn't before. The lockdown measures that were enacted were the result of a report by the Imperial College of London, I think you're now satisfied that I've read it, and I hope you've done the same. That report predicted that, left unchecked, that the coronavirus would kill over 2 million people just in the United States. It was further suggested that with mitigation efforts (social distancing, closing schools etc) that this number would be cut in half.
Those are simple facts....not the numbers themselves, they were the result of a computer simulation, one which assumed 70% complaince with mitigation efforts. But that the ICofL made these predictions, that is a fact.
Now the medical authorities in the United States are talking about 100K to 200K deaths...maybe, Dr Fauci qualified this range by saying its something that "could" happen, not that it will happen. It could be higher than that range, or lower....we simply do not know.
As I write this deaths in the United States are listed at over 37,000....and obviously that number continues to grow day by day. In Italy there have been almost 23,000 deaths attribued to covid-19, and it also continues to grow. Where will it end? Nobody knows with any degree of certainty....as summer weather comes in its possible that the coronavirus may go into hibernation so to speak, and then come roaring back with the cooler weather, or it may keep going all summer long.....too many unknowns.
Whether one views current lockdown measures to be justified or not is up to individual opinion.....I happen to disagree with them. Its my belef that Sweden's measures are far more sustainable over the long term than what's being done in most other countries.
I look at my own country, Canada. In the province where I live (Ontario) the health system has canceled all screenings for cancer in order to marshall our limited resources to fight the pandemic and the anticipated surge. While on the one hand that seems reasonable, I also know that early screening and detection is the most important tool in the fight against cancer and saving lives....you hear it all the time.
Be it prostate or breast the message of public health officials is GET CHECKED. But not now....now someone with a tumour or growth is being told to wait....and when the screening is finally done (whenver that happens) if it turns out to be malignant and too far advanced for early treatment.....oh well, maybe we should chalk that death up to covid-19 as well, not directly but as collateral damage to use a military term.
Ultimately it comes down to values....the person who's poured heart and sould into a small biz, and the employees who rely on that job for their livelihood, I'm not going to denigrate them for thinking that these measures have possibly gone too far.....maybe gov't assistance can go on indefinitely. Likewise for those living with mental illness or an abusive spouse in these lockdown conditions....
There's no one size fits all opinion...and every point of view has value. We need to stop with the flaming wars of words and try to help each other cope....both those whose fears are centred on the pandemic itself, as well as those whose fears are more about how authorities have chosen to combat it.
Peace.