People complaining that TN is opening up to early

@RopinTexan Wow... you must be a stable genius. And, the way you take a complex issue and make it seem so simple to solve with fantasy. Why... it's fantastic and irresponsible. What... you worry about the volumes of people who won't recover?

@RopinTexan That is correct. I see you believe in the “let ‘er rip” theory. And since we’ve had 45,000 deaths so far WITH social distancing efforts, and the estimated percentage of people who have contracted it is about 2%, you could expect to lose about 2,225,000 Americans before building up your herd immunity. Oh, and that assumes that you are immune after contracting it, which has not been demonstrated. There is nothing like running a grand experiment with millions of lives. But then again, as your Lt. governor said “ there are some things that are more important than living.” I guess the Dow Jones is more important than life itself.

@MarkPaul Way to blow my point out of proportion. Of course, I'm worried about those who won't recover, especially the elderly population and those with preexisting conditions. That's why I'm avoiding visiting my grandparents, for example. But these people are still a minority. It's equally worrisome and sad when these types of people die of the flu, cancer, or even a car accident. But the longer this lockdown lasts, the longer it will take healthy people to develop these antibodies and delay herd immunity. Postponing people's deaths isn't going to stop it from happening, just postpone it.

Honestly, at this point, I think the best option is to slowly and gradually remove the lockdown. That way, a small number of people will get the disease, develop antibodies, heal from it, and then remove the lockdown a bit more, and so forth. Maybe start with retail stores, only letting ten people in at a time, then the next month open them up to 20, then open restaurants, and so on.

No, I'm not a genius, but this is basic 9th-grade biology. I'm open to being proven wrong.

@windinhishair Me: *makes a point that some conservatives have been making*
You: *assumes I love Governor Lee and agree with Republicans on everything*

False dichotomy.

@RopinTexan But, with your plan "[u]at least[/u] 99% of people are going to recover. I mean, they must recover because dead people don't develop antibodies. That's just 9th-grade biology. And, even though no one with medical credentials has confirmed that perpetual immunity is achieved by recovering from the virus, you are probably just being humble by claiming not to be a "stable genius."

I could be wrong, but your idea for coronavirus parties so that as many people catch the disease as possible as a social commitment seems like it's genius. What could possibly go wrong? Here's to 9th-grade biology. And, as another stable genius has said, "what do we have to lose?" Party-on, mate.

@MarkPaul You clearly have no interest in listening to people who disagree with you, so I see no point in continuing this argument. Peace out.

@RopinTexan There are just too many holes in your solution. Sorry I hurt your feelings. That wasn't my intention.

@RopinTexan A quarter million people isn’t just a minority to blow off. Those people are not doomed, as you are assuming. What we need to do is widespread testing to see how widespread the virus is and what the true infection and death rates are. This will also help answer the question of whether immunity develops at all, which people are assuming but isn’t demonstrated. Only with hard data should we do more than small adjustments to the lockdowns. We’ll be able to see some of this in the next month with the several Republican governors betting their citizens lives on the outcome.

We may be able to partially remove some controls this summer along the lines of what you suggest, but we have to realize that we are likely in for a worse situation this fall when Coronavirus overlaps the beginning of flu season. Heavy restrictions are likely going to be needed well into 2021. It is unlikely that a true herd immunity can be developed before a vaccine or treatment regimen is developed in about 18 months from now. With assumed immunity to reinfection of those already impacted and a viable vaccine, hopefully we can finally get this under control.

My apology for coming on too strong. I have close family members who are MDs in Texas and in the Northeast and a father in a nursing home, and I will do whatever I can to protect them and help them save lives. Good luck and be safe.

@windinhishair Thanks for actually making a point. I agree 100% that we need more testing. So few people end up getting tested that a) there is most likely a large portion of the population who get the virus, have no symptoms, and recover without knowing they ever had it, so they don’t think to get tested, so this results in a lower mortality rate than we thought, and/or b) there is also a large group who do know they have it but also have preexisting conditions, end up dying, and the doctors just assume that they died of COVID, even though they actually died of another condition. I think we could both agree here that more accurate, unbiased science and less politics will result in the best solution(s).

I just don’t think it’s realistic to shut down the entire economy indefinitely, possibly for over a year, as many people’s livelihoods depend on their ability to work for an income. We need a logic and science based solution, not an emotionally based one. I don’t know what that solution is, as I’m neither a scientist nor an economist, but I do know that extremism, whichever side it’s on, isn’t helping anyone.

@RopinTexan [quote]b) there is also a large group who do know they have it but also have preexisting conditions, end up dying, and the doctors just assume that they died of COVID, even though they actually died of another condition. [/quote]
This is something people like to pretend - but you still have to contend with the fact that places like NY have essentially doubled their normal overall mortality. We don't bury Americans in mass graves for shits and giggles.

[i]Something[/i] is sure killing Americans with a rare new efficiency over there. If you want, you can pretend it's not the virus.

@QuixoticSoul we also don't know that they're really bodies in those so called mass Graves

@foggymorning31 We also don't know there's an undiseased brain in your head, but we're willing to look at the evidence.

@foggymorning31 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

@foggymorning31 We don't know that Trump and Republican governors are living animals. They could be robots. Certainly Pence is more robotic than alive.

@RopinTexan [quote]In other words, if I go out, catch the virus from someone else without knowing it, and my immune system fights it off without any symptoms, that will prevent me from getting it again.[/quote]

Except that doesn't seem to be proved. In fact, second waves have re-infected survivors in other countries.