# Anyone else questioning the extent of "social isolation"? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 17, 2020, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671 "2020-03-17T18:26:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/241 "2020-03-24T00:57:52Z")
I just talked to my parents. On one hand, I do think they are taking this seriously. But on another, I still don’t think they are taking it seriously enough. My mother just came back from shopping. I demanded to know what the hell she’d been shopping for. Toilet paper. I asked my mother if they were out of toilet paper. No, they have enough. But she wants to get some more since everyone is hoarding it. And of course, none of the stores has any. She’s been to driving around to multiple places today, looking for got-damn toilet paper and god-knows-what else she doesn’t need!!! I yelled at her. I started to cry. She laughed like she always does when her kids are in pain (she can’t help it), and I yelled at her again to let her know I’m fucking serious. She grew quiet and eventually promised she’d be more careful. I told her that all she has to do is tell me what she wants and I will order it online for her. She poo-pooed that idea (“You don’t know what brands I like!!”) but I insisted. Thing is, I have never ordered groceries online. I don’t even know if that’s an option in her area. But I’m going to figure out something. Apparently it is too hard for her to write up a fucking shopping list and buy enough groceries to last a week. No, she’s still think it’s perfectly fine to go to the store (or multiple stores) whenever she gets a wild hare to go shopping. Which is every freakin’ day. People like my mother need a shelter-in-place order. When left to their own devices, they will revert to deeply engrained habits and bullshit rationalizations (“I’m going to wash my hands when I get home! I’m safe!”) ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/242 "2020-03-24T01:51:56Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I just talked to my parents. On one hand, I do think they are taking this seriously. But on another, I still don’t think they are taking it seriously enough. My mother just came back from shopping. I demanded to know what the hell she’d been shopping for. > > Toilet paper. > > I asked my mother if they were out of toilet paper. No, they have enough. But she wants to get some more since everyone is hoarding it. And of course, none of the stores has any. > > She’s been to driving around to multiple places today, looking for got-damn toilet paper and god-knows-what else she doesn’t need!!! > > I yelled at her. I started to cry. She laughed like she always does when her kids are in pain (she can’t help it), and I yelled at her again to let her know I’m fucking serious. She grew quiet and eventually promised she’d be more careful. I told her that all she has to do is tell me what she wants and I will order it online for her. She poo-pooed that idea (“You don’t know what brands I like!!”) but I insisted. Thing is, I have never ordered groceries online. I don’t even know if that’s an option in her area. But I’m going to figure out something. Apparently it is too hard for her to write up a fucking shopping list and buy enough groceries to last a week. No, she’s still think it’s perfectly fine to go to the store (or multiple stores) whenever she gets a wild hare to go shopping. Which is every freakin’ day. > > People like my mother need a shelter-in-place order. When left to their own devices, they will revert to deeply engrained habits and bullshit rationalizations (“I’m going to wash my hands when I get home! I’m safe!”) I wish your mother were a rare case. She’s not. I don’t know why people don’t get this. It reminds me of the time I was in the pre-surgical unit at a California hospital. They settled a new patient into the next bed. “And you’ve had nothing to eat or drink since midnight, right?” they asked. “Nothing,” she said firmly. “Only a few bites of a breakfast burrito.” They had to cancel her surgery. I don’t get it. I don’t know what we have to do so THEY get it. Sorry you’re having such a hard time with your mom. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/243 "2020-03-24T02:09:55Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I can’t sew, but I can hot glue. You think nurses and doctors will take hot glued masks? > > I want to do something to help this horrible situation. Did you read the link? The study indicates that cloth masks may _increase_ the chance of infection. > [@RioRico](#): > > They likely will pass them on to visitors, not use them themselves. No really, the CDC told healthcare workers to use them as a last resort. There are some drives happening. Some may be with appropriate materials. Some are not, and it is unclear what the plans for those masks are. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/244 "2020-03-24T02:27:01Z")
To be fair, **nelliebly** , I have to remind myself that COVID-19 has altered my life a lot more than it has my parents, who are retired. I’ve been telecommuting for the past week–something I would have never imagined I’d ever do just a few weeks ago. All the public meetings I had scheduled through the next two months have been canceled. I’m thinking it will be weeks, maybe months, when I get to sit in face-to-face staff meeting again. In contrast, my parents have only had to give up their casino habit and figure out how to do Sunday School online. They also aren’t news junkies like me. For the past month, I’ve been living and breathing COVID-19. My parents watch the news, but the news about the virus didn’t really hit them until a couple of weeks ago. They don’t know how high the death toll is in Italy. They don’t even know how many Americans have died. So this thing is abstract to them in a way it isn’t for me. And it is abstract for me. So I can’t really blame them for not really getting it. I know they are trying their best with what they do know. So I’m going to try to be more patient with them. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/245 "2020-03-24T02:28:05Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > Did you read the link? The study indicates that cloth masks may _increase_ the chance of infection. Do you not know what hot glue is? Hint: It has nothing to do with cloth. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/246 "2020-03-24T04:08:31Z")
> [@Mikemike2](#): > > Excellent OP. I am not sure either. We have a night planned with friends this Saturday for dinner at someone’s home - there will be 8 people. It was planned a long time ago. I don’t wont to go, my wife definitely wants to go, and it is important to her. Not sure what to do. I also work in an office of 4 people, and don’t know if there is any real benefit to working from home. We are all washing our hands, have plenty of space, and are wiping down surfaces, not coming in if sick. And what are your friends and co-workers doing when you’re not around. How many little get-togethers are they attending? ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/247 "2020-03-24T04:30:09Z")
I’m beyond frustrated with companies responses. I work with several dozen vendors, and all but one of them has convinced themselves that they are essential and so are ok to ignore shelter in place orders. Look, I know you have bills and employees to pay. I know that closing things down for weeks if not months will cause lots of problems, up to causing your business to fail. But no, Company that Sells a Variety of Screw and Bolts, you are not essential. Wisconsin’s shelter in place order should apply to you. And no, Company that makes specialty fittings, you are also no essential, and the California bay area orders apply to you too. Thank you for sending me letters explaining how you are all concerned for the well being of your employees, and you will be washing hard surfaces 3 times a day. Gah… Keeping your offices and warehouses and manufacturing plants full of employees is going to spread this disease, and if you are lucky, no one will have more than a case similar to the flu. I hope you are all lucky. I’d tell all you CEOs to go give your kids a hug, but seriously, I hope you don’t. They don’t need to catch this from you. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/248 "2020-03-24T04:37:26Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > I’m beyond frustrated with companies responses. I work with several dozen vendors, and all but one of them has convinced themselves that they are essential and so are ok to ignore shelter in place orders. Look, I know you have bills and employees to pay. I know that closing things down for weeks if not months will cause lots of problems, up to causing your business to fail. But no, Company that Sells a Variety of Screw and Bolts, you are not essential. Wisconsin’s shelter in place order should apply to you. And no, Company that makes specialty fittings, you are also no essential, and the California bay area orders apply to you too. Are those screws and bolts used to keep the nation’s trains and trucks running? What about farm equipment? Are the specialty fittings used in sewage treatment plants? What about drug manufacturing? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/249 "2020-03-24T05:33:44Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I don’t think you can really use China as a reference for how to control the spread of corona, considering the fact that it was the government’s lies that allowed it to fester in Wuhan and eventually spread worldwide. When they say that there haven’t been any new cases, you know it’s probably a lie: the CCP is feeling the heat and their propaganda efforts are intended to wipe everyone’s memory clear of Wuhan and to fixate on how bad their home-cooked crisis is for everyone outside of China. I don’t trust a fucking thing that comes out of China. Asahi, we get you fucking hate China and the Chinese Communist Party. Could you puh-leese set that aside this for the time being and focus on what might actually be productive in the US of A to stop Covid-19? It’s obvious from your posts that you take the threat seriously. There is plenty to learn from China, and there is plenty for the US to gain from cooperating with China in this time of global crisis versus exasperating xenophobic right wing talking points. Honestly, I’m not trying to bust your balls. Let’s be a Americans, let’s be a global village, and pull together. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/250 "2020-03-24T05:55:25Z")
\*Are \*China saying that they haven’t been having any new cases at all? Because I downloaded an official Corona-cases datafile from the [ECDC](https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/download-todays-data-geographic-distribution-covid-19-cases-worldwide) and that says infection is still puttering along at a low rate like the other successfully-suppressing Asian countries - a hundred or so a day at the moment, so a little bit up from earlier this month. Well-controlled, but not gone. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/251 "2020-03-24T12:46:19Z")
I believe they were only saying Wuhan had no new cases, until this morning unfortunately. > **[Coronavirus: Wuhan to ease lockdown as world battles pandemic](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-52016139)** > > The lockdown in the Chinese city where the outbreak began will be partially lifted next month. > [@](#): > > The lockdown in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the global coronavirus outbreak began, will be partially lifted on 8 April, officials say. > > Travel restrictions in the rest of Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, will be lifted from midnight on Tuesday - for residents who are healthy. > > A single new case of the virus was reported in Wuhan on Tuesday following almost a week of no new cases. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/252 "2020-03-25T00:32:50Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > For the average person, the death rate is about 1 in 100. The problematic word here, though, is “average.” The average death rate for someone who is in their 20s and in good health is quite low - perhaps as low or even lower than for seasonal flu (the data are not completely in). I don’t have the numbers at my fingertips, but when I saw them broken down in detail by relatively small age ranges (10-20 years IIRC), what I found interesting that is not being widely reported is that, relative to the flu, this virus is actually proportionately MORE deadly for the relatively young vs. the very old. The important caveat there is “relative to the flu”. Covid-19 definitely has a much higher death rate for the elderly than for the young. But the ratio between the flu’s death rate for the elderly and the young is actually much higher in the case of the flu. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > IOW you probably don’t need to worry about breathing the air in a room half an hour after a COVID-infected person has left. The University of Minnesota’s Center Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) published an editorial last week expressing some skepticism about this public health messaging that we don’t have to worry about aerosol transmission: > **[COMMENTARY: COVID-19 transmission messages should hinge on science](https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/commentary-covid-19-transmission-messages-should-hinge-science)** I wonder if a lot of this has to do with the propaganda coming from that sector telling people that masks are ineffectual except when used by healthcare workers. This is to my mind pretty obviously bullshit (and look at the Asian countries who have been most successful in curbing their caseload, where masks are ubiquitous), intended to keep laypeople from buying up all the masks and causing a shortage for doctors and nurses. It all seems murky at best, and I’m just going to operate under the assumption that any indoor area where people have been breathing recently could have aerosol particles that could infect me–so I’m going to wear my N95 mask. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/253 "2020-03-25T05:03:31Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I don’t have the numbers at my fingertips, but when I saw them broken down in detail by relatively small age ranges (10-20 years IIRC), what I found interesting that is not being widely reported is that, relative to the flu, this virus is actually proportionately MORE deadly for the relatively young vs. the very old. The important caveat there is “relative to the flu”. Covid-19 definitely has a much higher death rate for the elderly than for the young. But the ratio between the flu’s death rate for the elderly and the young is actually much higher in the case of the flu. > > The University of Minnesota’s Center Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) published an editorial last week expressing some skepticism about this public health messaging that we don’t have to worry about aerosol transmission: > > [COMMENTARY: COVID-19 transmission messages should hinge on science | CIDRAP](http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/03/commentary-covid-19-transmission-messages-should-hinge-science) > I wonder if a lot of this has to do with the propaganda coming from that sector telling people that masks are ineffectual except when used by healthcare workers. This is to my mind pretty obviously bullshit (and look at the Asian countries who have been most successful in curbing their caseload, where masks are ubiquitous), intended to keep laypeople from buying up all the masks and causing a shortage for doctors and nurses. > > It all seems murky at best, and I’m just going to operate under the assumption that any indoor area where people have been breathing recently could have aerosol particles that could infect me–so I’m going to wear my N95 mask. First, where did you get your info that masks have been ubiquitous in Asia during the COVID pandemic? Second, you’re using post hoc reasoning when you assume the Asian countries who curbed their caseload did so _because_ people were wearing masks. If the masks were effective, there wouldn’t have been a need for lockdowns. The surgical masks were first created not to keep surgeons from inhaling patients’ germs but to keep him from sneezing, coughing, or letting his nose drip into the surgical field. As has been conclusively established repeatedly, the masks are NOT very effective in preventing the wearer from inhaling the COVID-19 virus, though they’re better than nothing. The n95 masks are effective, but there was no stockpile, and almost all of them are made in China, which stopped shipping masks during the pandemic there. And for the record, it’s more important that doctors and nurses have whatever protection is available than that you and I do. How many COVID-19 patients have you treated today? ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/254 "2020-03-25T06:20:48Z")
I saw mention of the shelter in place order in the Bay Area. I just saw an article about the effectiveness of that order. It’s still early days, but the Shelter in Place order appears to be flattening the curve of the spread of infection. [Bay Area is Flattening the Curve Early data indicates effectiveness of Shelter in Place](https://swell.life/article/rMYhMFSSqDXi/bayarea-is-flattening-the-curve) by Sudha KV., Mar 23, 2020 The Shelter in place order was placed on March 17, 2020 right around the time this thread started. > [@](#): > > The latest such experiment is Shelter-in-Place, which the Bay Area was the first to institute in the entire country, without any federal support or mandate. So, I decided to take a look at how this experiment has played out. And so far, the numbers seem to indicate that this was not only a wise decision, but will help us come out of this far quicker than anyone else (provided we can limit people travelling into or outside of the bay area and continue to maintain social distancing), And quicker recovery will mean that the economic impact is likely to be much lower than what it would have been had we done this sometime later, after more cases were allowed to spread. Now, I must caveat this with it being early days. But the numbers appear to indicate that aggressive distancing and lock-down policies are highly effective when applied early. > > The Bay Area put its Shelter in Place effective Mar 17. I have compared data from Mar 15 to about 6 pm PT on Mar, 22, which was the time of this writing. And, I will continue to update this article over the coming days with more data. The author compared the number of infections from the Bay Area which had one of the highest rates of infection at that time to the rate of deaths and infection in New York. > [@](#): > > First, let us compare the Bay Area to New York. On Mar 16, before shelter in place, we had 310 cases in the Bay Area with 5 deaths, and 950 in New York with 6 deaths. Here is how much the virus has spread in the past 6 days in these regions. The Bay Area is now at 786 cases and 13 deaths, while New York has 15168 cases and 114 deaths. Then the author compared the rate of new cases in the Bay Area versus all of California. > [@](#): > > On Mar 16, 310 of the 392 cases in California, or 79% of the cases, were in the Bay Area. Today, six days later, 786 of the 1555 cases in California, which is 50% of the cases, are from the Bay Area. The deaths have fallen from 83% (5 of 6 cases) to 44% (13 of 29 cases). Then the author compared the Santa Clara County’s (one of the shelter in place counties) stats to LA County. > [@](#): > > In the Bay Area, on Mar 16, Santa Clara county accounted for 138 of the 310 (44%) cases and 4 of the 5 (80%) deaths. Shelter in Place was instituted in the Bay Area and so we compared it to Los Angeles County, which had 94 cases and 1 death on Mar 16 and now has 409 cases with 5 deaths. The graphs are stark and easier to see the picture than reading these numbers. If the trend continues in the same way for the next several weeks, it will show that the shelter in place order had a positive effect on containing the spread of the virus. While it’s true that New York and LA have different factors affecting their population such as more public transportation and the population density is higher in those areas in some parts, there’s still a case to be made that the shelter in place order made a difference given the original spread of infection and the current rate of infection in those places. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/255 "2020-03-25T12:28:13Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Are those screws and bolts used to keep the nation’s trains and trucks running? What about farm equipment? Are the specialty fittings used in sewage treatment plants? What about drug manufacturing? Part of the problem there is everything is inter-connected in some way and and if some one doesn’t make a decision the majority of the businesses in the country will decided they are “essential” and remain open. ---
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/256 "2020-03-25T14:22:08Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > I saw mention of the shelter in place order in the Bay Area. I just saw an article about the effectiveness of that order. It’s still early days, but the Shelter in Place order appears to be flattening the curve of the spread of infection. > > (snip) [Here’s](https://www.wave3.com/2020/03/24/graph-comparing-ky-tenn-coronavirus-responses-goes-viral/)a graph comparing the curves of Kentucky (which introduced distancing measures early) vs. Tennessee (which was slower to respond). More evidence that the earlier measures are put in place, the more effective they will be. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/257 "2020-03-25T15:39:11Z")
> [@SingleMalt](#): > > [Here’s](https://www.wave3.com/2020/03/24/graph-comparing-ky-tenn-coronavirus-responses-goes-viral/)a graph comparing the curves of Kentucky (which introduced distancing measures early) vs. Tennessee (which was slower to respond). > > More evidence that the earlier measures are put in place, the more effective they will be. :eek: That is QUITE a difference! ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/258 "2020-03-25T16:30:58Z")
We’ll see how it shakes out in the next couple of months, but yes, basic education regarding public hygiene and social distancing goes a long way to blunting the spread of even a highly transmissible contagion. If this had been done at a Federal level starting back in January when the NIAID raised an alert about the potential for pandemic outbreak, we might have had more time to prepare businesses, acquire and allocate medical supplies and PPE, and develop and deploy testing kits and guidance to local and state governments and health officials. Instead, the “do nothing and hope it all goes away by spring” is going to result in tens or hundreds of thousands of totally avoidable deaths among the millions who will eventually succumb in this country, and those deaths are the direct result of _criminal negligence_ on the part of Trump and his political advisors who ignored and obstructed public health experts while spreading misinformation. Once this crisis has passed, there needs to be an investigation into what could have been done and an explanation of why no effective action was taken, as well as the effects if Trump decides to cancel the national emergency by April as he has pledged to do. The people in charge of leading the nation and making decisions based upon fact and guidance from public health experts should be held to account for not performing the rational and responsible duties that they with which they have been entrusted. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/259 "2020-03-25T17:44:22Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > … > Once this crisis has passed, there needs to be an investigation into what could have been done and an explanation of why no effective action was taken, as well as the effects if Trump decides to cancel the national emergency by April as he has pledged to do. The people in charge of leading the nation and making decisions based upon fact and guidance from public health experts **should be held to account** for not performing the rational and responsible duties that they with which they have been entrusted. > > Stranger Of course, I completely agree with you in this. But note what I have bolded… that pesky passive voice. WHO is going to do this if trump (GOD FORBID!) gets reelected? He will bury it all along with the bodies and rewrite history. The whole thing never happened. It was nothing but a double cheese nothingberder. And he’s the short order cook who saved the bacon. _Excuse my foodie metaphor festival. Must eat something soon. Been up since 4 am._ If it’s Biden, by all means, an investigation and report, probably to be conducted over a period of months in the background, because there will be critical emergent issues to deal with moment to moment. But yeah, a new administration needs to hang this one out to dry. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671/260 "2020-03-25T23:01:37Z")
That Kentucky/Tennessee graph really is something! > [@nelliebly](#): > > And for the record, it’s more important that doctors and nurses have whatever protection is available than that you and I do. How many COVID-19 patients have you treated today? My masks are N95: I’m grateful to whomever it was on MSNBC who mentioned that this was the necessary standard back in February and I got some of the last ones available on Amazon. The medical community should have their own stockpile of these masks. I shouldn’t be expected to refrain from buying them to protect me and my family so they can have them instead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-questioning-the-extent-of-social-isolation/849671.md?page=14)