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m_d_hSo, what's up with the similar COVID death rates between Republican and Democratic states in the US, I asked? It seems not to matter what restrictions local governments have imposed on their populations in the US.
"People don't like the government telling them what to do," he replied. Agreeing with my take that people frequently ignored state and local restrictions wherever they were imposed, regardless of who was in charge.
"People got pandemic fatigue, even states that did well at first saw their case numbers explode when people got tired of restrictions."
I do wonder whether it will matter how deadly the next pandemic may be, whether in the US we will refuse to contain it regardless, because "freedom". If it kills 10% of us, 50% of us. If my youngest brother's take will remain the same no matter how deadly the disease, "You can't blame anybody for a disease."
Yes, you can. People can change their behaviors to not spread the disease. Other countries have proven this. We can eliminate certain diseases if we're willing to make the trade-offs required, if we're willing to find and maintain the behaviors that reduce the replication factor below 1.0. There are dozens of diseases that we've virtually eliminated from the US via vaccination campaigns and other public health interventions. Do you know anybody who has suffered from cholera? We don't get vaccinated for cholera in the US, but we still don't catch it, because we've implemented the proper public health interventions.
I'm too public spirited for this country.
"People don't like the government telling them what to do," he replied. Agreeing with my take that people frequently ignored state and local restrictions wherever they were imposed, regardless of who was in charge.
"People got pandemic fatigue, even states that did well at first saw their case numbers explode when people got tired of restrictions."
I do wonder whether it will matter how deadly the next pandemic may be, whether in the US we will refuse to contain it regardless, because "freedom". If it kills 10% of us, 50% of us. If my youngest brother's take will remain the same no matter how deadly the disease, "You can't blame anybody for a disease."
Yes, you can. People can change their behaviors to not spread the disease. Other countries have proven this. We can eliminate certain diseases if we're willing to make the trade-offs required, if we're willing to find and maintain the behaviors that reduce the replication factor below 1.0. There are dozens of diseases that we've virtually eliminated from the US via vaccination campaigns and other public health interventions. Do you know anybody who has suffered from cholera? We don't get vaccinated for cholera in the US, but we still don't catch it, because we've implemented the proper public health interventions.
I'm too public spirited for this country.