photo credit: Times of India
Once again, Heather Mac Donald is a voice of reason during the
destructive lockdown. Her article appeared in The Hill the other day, and here’s
part of it:
Who has the burden of proof
regarding the economic lockdowns: Those who argue for continuing them or those
who want to lift them?
. . .
. . .both sides of the lockdown
debate are motivated by public health concerns. Pace [Gov. Andrew] Cuomo, his ornately complicated reopening plan does have
a trade-off. Lives are being lost to the lockdown, a toll that will mount the
longer the economy remains shuttered. Some doctors estimate that the closure of
hospitals to non-coronavirus cases and the reluctance of patients
to burden 911 have increased mortality as much as the virus. The global
depression will devastate life expectancies in the less-developed world. Overdose deaths and suicides brought
on by joblessness and loss of hope will rise, as more and more businesses fold permanently.
The rhetoric of lockdown proponents
is growing more apocalyptic. “A Virus Tightens Its Deadly Grip” announced
the lead print headline in Wednesday’s New York Times —
even as the data keep reinforcing the case against universal shutdown.
Infection outbreaks are occurring in highly specific locales, not universally: nursing homes,
meatpacking plants and prisons. Deaths are tragically concentrated in the
former.
. . .
The demographics of COVID-19 allow
for a targeted response. Nursing homes and all congregate facilities must be
kept immaculately clean and protected. Over the long term, Americans will need
to rethink how they care for elderly parents and how much they are willing to
pay for such care. But if the proponents of universal lockdowns had to prove
the case for continuing to destroy the complex web of transactions by which
human beings flourish, the economy would reopen and millions of livelihoods
would be saved.
Ms. Mac Donald’s full analysis is here. Highly recommended.
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