# Am I missing something here? (re: reopening of bars, etc... now)

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-missing-something-here-re-reopening-of-bars-etc-now/922356
**Category:** The Quarantine Zone
**Tags:** covid-quarantine
**Created:** [October 6, 2020, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-missing-something-here-re-reopening-of-bars-etc-now/922356 "2020-10-06T17:27:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 292

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### Author: ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2020, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-missing-something-here-re-reopening-of-bars-etc-now/922356/292 "2020-10-21T13:47:54Z")

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> [@SayTwo](#):
>
> But if it _is_ the reason why, we should also consider that very few, and hardly any non-professionals in the relevant fields, would have come to those conclusions on their own. If people believe that, it’s because they believe the messaging they hear.

The issue is not that people are believing the messaging they hear - almost everybody had to rely on that. The issue is what sources are you getting your messaging from? Are you listening to Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx and Dr. Redfield, or are you listening to President Trump? Are you paying attention to infectious disease experts, or are you getting your messaging from the “my freedom, government tyranny” folks?

Where are the folks saying, “It’s just a flu,” and “If your worried, don’t come out,” getting their ideas?

> [@tofor](#):
>
> When this all started, we thought that by everybody staying home we could contact trace the few cases and stamp this thing out. Now we’re stuck in a frustrating limbo where so many of us are doing everything right, but the disease continues to spread, and there’s no clear path to and end.

You seem to be ignoring why that initial plan didn’t work - the lack of full implementation and the lack of federal coordination and the active undercutting of the plan by the highest government officials, the politicians in charge.

Regardless, we are _here_ now, so figuring out the forward strategy is more important than lamenting the past. But we do need to understand the causes of the failure, because they are still around to sabotage any new forward plan.

> [@tofor](#):
>
> But this didn’t “all start” in April, that was at least a month in, when it was becoming clear this was entirely out of control. Don’t you remember all the talk of a “V-Shaped Recovery” for the economy, because we were going to get this thing beat and all that pent-up demand would come roaring back? That didn’t last long, but was predicated on a belief this was a short-lived disruption to our lives.

The shut down was supposed to be short lived, predicated on assumptions like high levels of compliance, widespread testing, and following sensible guidelines on reopening. We did get reasonably high levels of compliance at first, at least in the highest hit areas, but not the testing to the levels required, and which state or municipality has actually followed the reopening guidelines about at least 14 days per phase with definite reductions in cases and hospitalizations before advancing to the next phase?

> [@tofor](#):
>
> Partly this was a false sense of security from having lived through SARS, Swine Flu, Bird Flu, etc. and the naive feeling that, “These things are not a problem here in the US”.

And partly because covid19 is not just a simple respiratory disease - it has systemic effects like blood clotting issues that make the standard medical procedures less effective.

> [@tofor](#):
>
> But these are incompatible! Getting with the program does not get us through ‘faster’, if “getting through” means waiting for a vaccine. Less physical suffering and death in the meantime, sure, but it doesn’t get us through ‘faster’

Getting through _what_ faster? The shut down, or the entire pandemic? Those aren’t the same question.

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