The curve has been flattened
 

The goal of staying home, wearing masks and social distancing was to “flatten the curve”. It was never about eradicating the virus - it was about not overrunning hospital ICU units. We have achieved that goal. Those same experts who suggested flattening the curve, told us back then that it would save lives by not over taxing our healthcare facilities. It was not about preventing people from getting the virus, just about reducing the chances of everyone getting it at once. We have done that. That was the reason for the lockdown, but people have forgotten that. Mission accomplished, now it is time to move on.

I think until we have no more fatal car accidents no one should be able to drive.

You are correct. Now they are furloughing our Doctors and nurses. Pray a real medical emergency does not happen in the midst of hospitals losing millions and closing down. Live on, smile and let's get through this reasonably. Please be logical even though it is difficult in the face of fear.������������������������

Such good news! Can you provide a source for your info. Thank you

Empty hospital beds....ICUs only at 30% of capacity, hospital ships and field hospitals never or minimally used, a country awash in masks and gloves....respirators at $ 16,000 a unit sitting in warehouses....government handouts like candy for things not even related to CV19, like AMTRAK and the Kennedy Arts Center....sounds like a good overblown crisis to me....

I can for a fact tell you in just one hospital system, that has 6 facilities 61% are furloughed. Had to use their vacation time up, no unemployment, and their health insurance is $1435.00, per month

If you are waiting for the last person to die from Covid before it is "over", you might as well stay indoors with your mask on and wait for your own demise.

And you read it in the internet so it must be true

The number of new cases is not going up exponentially, no hospitals have run out of ICU beds or ventilators. If you have an underlying condition, do your best to stay isolated, otherwise it’s time to allow people to resume normal activities.

23 K yesterday, That's nothing to sneeze at figuratively speaking

Remember that the goal of the lockdown was to flatten the curve. The number of new cases is not increasing. The curve has been flattened. That was why the country was shut down. The goal has been achieved. The virus is still spreading and will continue to spread, but at a manageable rate. That’s what those who sold us on the lockdown promised us from the beginning. Not stopping the virus, just slowing the spread.

If the curve was flatened by the shut down, doesn't it follow that the curve would turn upward if the lockdown ends?

If the curve was flattened by the lockdown, then there should be an increase in the infection rate as things open back up. As long as it doesn’t increase to a level that overwhelms hospital ICU units, then the curve is still “flattened”. If infection rate doesn’t spike, then it shows that the lockdown has not had a great deal of effect on the spread of the virus.

Goal
 

The goal was to reduce the spread of the disease. Where are links to statements by public health officials and epidemiologists that the goal was merely to prevent hospital overload. Not statements by politicians with their own agendas.

“The WHO has repeatedly underlined the importance of "flattening the curve" in order to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, calling on countries around the world to impose sweeping public health measures.“

Better recheck your sources

Cases in the U.S. | CDC


TOTAL CASES
1,300,696
26,660 New Cases*

Goal
 

I meant the the idea that the goal is only to flatten the curve.
I know I practiced social distancing and wore a mask when needed to lessen my chances of getting sick. Did you only observe precautions to flatten the curve as a social benefit and will now expose yourself to getting Covid-19 since the hospitals are no longer overwhelmed? Good luck with that, I don’t think in the real world people protected themselves because they wanted to flatten the curve and not because they want to be personally safe.
Since the curve is flattened, and that’s what you think matters, do what you did before, go out, shake hands ,etc. just stay away from me.

I just read back on your posts. You moved here in December of 2019 so I am guessing you are in your fifties? One of the reasons MOST of us are concerned about not catching this nasty bug is that we are all older and that makes us more vulnerable to dying from it.

I know that is a factor for the two of us. We are hoping for a vaccine or a medical tool that would make it less deadly.

Recheck what data? The concept of flattening the curve is to keep the level cases below the point where ICU units aren’t overloaded. They aren’t - anywhere in the country. Even NY which was the hardest hit state by far, has plenty of capacity. They have sent the hospital ship Comfort away because it’s not needed.

Flattening
 

I’m with you on this. His idea is that the hospitals won’t be overwhelmed. Great, now if I get Covid-19 I can be confident I will be able to get on a ventilator if I need one.
That does not exactly make me feel better and now risk getting sick.

So, where did the 3 trillion go? I thought it was to help medical facilities, and find vaccine?

15,000 dead New Yorkers doesn't sound like an over blown crisis to me.

Actually I moved here in August of 2017 & I’m 60, but if was your age or had a pre existing condition I would be taking greater precautions. That said, the majority of the nation’s population isn’t over 65/70 & doesn’t have a pre existing condition. So, those in that category should be more careful, but the rest of the population should be able to resume their lives. Hopefully they come up with a vaccine, but they have yet to find a vaccine for any Covid strain. They have been working on one for SARS for 18 years without a solution.

We are still a long way from “mission accomplished”. You still have to be very careful or we’re in for a spike in positive cases.

vaccine for aids has been sought for lots longer - 1981,,, waiting on kung flu vaccine ? call me - i have a bridge for sale,,, since some think n y times is go-to source of truth, i'll even run an ad there

Not sure what figures you're looking at but our numbers are still going up, not down. What's your hurry?

Absolutely correct-open up the economy and gyms

Just because the curve is flattening, and you will be able to get into a hospital for care, doesn't mean that you will be able to be cured. The problem with this disease is that in many cases it can't be cured and you only get into the hospital for them to try. Until there's a vaccine or cure this isn't over.

Thank you. Nice to see that someone actually gets it. Doctors have said that the same amount of people are going to get this virus. All we did was spread it out. You can’t stay locked in forever. You can’t wear a mask forever. This virus is no different than the other flu type viruses that are out there every year. We now know that the mortality rate of this is going to be the same as the flu in the end. To me from what we know now, this whole thing was unnecessary and a total paranoid overreaction with a lot of unnecessary damage done.

Wow, there is no mission accomplished!! This is a virus the same as the other flu viruses that are out there all the time. And the more testing we do the more cases we are going to find and that’s a good thing. 95% of the people that get this virus have zero or mild symptoms. We need a certain percentage of the population to get this to achieve herd immunity. You don’t get that by locking yourself in the house. The media and those in government with a political agenda have certainly done their job to create paranoia like I have never seen. Sad

If all the fatal car accidents happened within a 2 month period, then yes, you would have to think about driving habits. Not apples and oranges comparison.

Another day with no new COVID-19 cases in The Villages. 70 in Sumter County portion, 7 in Lake County portion, 1 in Marion County portion. Not a single new case so far this month.

404 Not Found

The cases by city and county begin on page 6, listed in order by number of cases, so you have to scroll a ways to find The Villages.

A big part of the rationale for the lockdown/stay-at-home was that estimates of cases (e.g., Cuomo, 200,000+ in NY) was taken to mean that a like number of hospital beds and ventilators would be required. Thankfully, that turned out not to be true. In Florida, of 39,514 cases to date, 7,171 (18%) required hospitalization. 1,721 deceased (4.4%). Same source as above.

At the same time, there is considerable evidence of deteriorating health in other areas, which provides a strong rationale for reopening in an intelligent way. This includes, as I have posted in the Health Forum, young children not keeping wellness appointments (20 to 30% of normal) thus forgoing vaccinations for potentially fatal childhood diseases; emergency room visits occurring at 40 to 50% of normal, including for heart attacks which normally increase when there is an increase in respiratory illness; opiod deaths increasing; cancer patients unable to get elective surgery (thankfully this last seems to be ending as states relax their rules). Sources for these statements as posted in the Health Forum

The nation is paying a dire cost for the lockdown orders. It is now time for those who are most vulnerable to continue to shelter in place while the rest of the country returns to normal.

The "404 not found" citation is Home | Florida Disaster, click on Latest Information on COVID--19, then on Daily Report.

So you’re at it again, this is a duplicate from ND
 

We have a different goal here in the villages.

It’s keep your name off of a park bench.

Stop trying to sell this “goal achieved” thing and suggest we should be “moving on”. We are not at a green light.

look at the Revised death toll estimates

The president just up’d his death toll estimates 2x to 120k. The CDC along with some wiz MIT Modeler think 261k by august.

the Governor Recently said 85% of the deaths in this state were over 65. The average age in TV is around 72.

Let individuals here make their own decisions, you shouldn’t be encouraging anything.

For a thoughtful essay on the tradeoffs between maintaining the shutdown and reopening, to to The Atlantic and search for the article titled "Take the Shutdown Skeptics Seriously."

Here's a sample "The general point is that minimizing the number of COVID-19 deaths today or a month from now or six months from now may or may not minimize the human costs of the pandemic when the full spectrum of human consequences is considered."

Sure they are working on a vaccine, but they have been working on one for the SARS strain of the Covid virus for 18 years. How long are you prepared to be shut down for?

Yes, and they will have to monitor whether certain locations are headed for trouble. Otherwise, open back up

millions are losing their jobs, their small businesses built on hard work and sacrifice. Big businesses are going under. Hospitals are going under. People will lose their homes, And not be able to feed their families. This is a train wreck if we don’t open back up. You personally, are going to have to pay for it all when the country goes down the tubes. The “government” is funded by YOU. Just hope that we can fund our national defense And social security. There are lots of consequences to not opening back up. You can’t have such a narrow focus. We don’t shut down the country to keep people from dying of the flu; even though this is worse we still can’t just shut the country down indefinitely

I personally wish the herd immunity crowd would just be more honest and call it what it really is.

Since the concept is to make the herd stronger by eliminating the old, weak, sick or otherwise medically compromised, just call it what it is - "thinning the herd."

Absolutely

I’m suggesting that the governor let people make their own decisions. Maintaining the lockdown takes away people’s options. The reason the restrictions were put in place was to flatten the curve. If the governor lifts the restrictions you are more than welcome to continue them. Continue to stay at home, wear a mask & don’t go to restaurants, gyms, or other non essential stores.