There are now only nine states in America that are not under stay-at-home orders by their governors.

Utah, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arkansas,, and South Carolina are now the only states where residents are not under orders to only leave their homes for “essential” purposes.

“The contrast is the starkest in five states — Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota,, and South Dakota — where there are no such orders in place, either in major cities or statewide. Another four had partial restrictions issued locally in certain cities or counties,” the New York Times reports.

Is this the right thing to do at this moment? Well, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons thinks that this is the best thing we can do at the moment.

The only way to effectively combat the disease from a practical standpoint (other than herd immunity) is to shield those at high risk until the virus has run its course through the country. Patients with significant underlying health conditions (cancer, lung disease, immune deficiency disorders) and those over the age of 65 should isolate themselves to the best of their abilities – the Association Of America Physician and Surgeons reported.

Martin Dubravec who is an Allergist/Clinical Immunologist Allergy and Asthma Specialist wrote for the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons:

Of all the deaths reported in the United States as of today, only 2 have been in patients under 18 years of age. Currently, our death rate (deaths/confirmed cases) has been as high as 2.3% and as low as 1.1% over the past 2 weeks. The President’s COVID-19 Taskforce estimated that as many as 1/1000 New Yorkers may have the virus. If this were projected to the entire United States (population 328,239,523), then the total number of COVID-19 would be approximately 328,239 and deaths from COVID-19 (1.8% death rate) at 5,909. Even if this ends up being wrong by 1,000 percent, the death rate would still be 59,000, i.e., within the range of the estimates for influenza deaths.

You can look at it in another way. 98% of people who get COVID-19 fully recover!

As of today (March 29, 2020) there are 123,828 confirmed cases and 2229 deaths (1.8% death rate) from COVID-19 in the United States. Compare that with the influenza estimates so far this year: 29,000 deaths! And the flu season is not yet over, with the CDC estimating as many as 59,000 will die of influenza by May of this year.

Americans at this time are seemingly eager to exchange their freedom for what they believe to be security and safety. What they don’t realize is if this is allowed to continue, they will lose their security, safety, and their freedom.

What will happen with the next epidemic? Will we do this for the next outbreak of flu? Or Strep? Or drug overdoses? What type of precedent will this set?

Federal and state leaders are using bad public health policy to promote even worse regulation. Several have remarked that this epidemic offers those who wish to subdue the population an excellent way to see what works and how long it takes to corral people into almost total submission; it’s taking about a month.

If this government-ordered shutdown continues for much more than another week or two, the human cost of job losses and bankruptcies will exceed what most Americans imagine. This won’t be popular to read in some quarters, but federal and state officials need to start adjusting their anti-virus strategy now to avoid an economic recession that will dwarf the harm from 2008-2009.

Much of the world economy has shuddered to a halt. In the United States alone, a record 3.3 million people filed for unemployment benefits in late March. President Donald Trump once mused about lifting pandemic restrictions by mid-April to prevent more economic damage, but ultimately settled on extending federal advice to maintain physical distancing through the end of April.

Trump’s decision, however, has only put off the question of when, exactly, cities and states should begin to ease up on distancing orders. “If you keep the shutdown going for 2 months more than we need to, that’s just an unbelievably costly mistake.

What do you think?

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