Comments

1

It is rumored that Josef Mengele is in the running to replace Fauci.

2

People in high density and/or multifamily and/or multigenerational housing need more space to spread out not less! Open the parks AND the non-arterial streets to the people!

3

My sister lives in Omaha and they closed the parks. If you are caught they fine you $500, and if your car is there they impound it.

4

Joe Biden has a plan:
"First, President Trump needs to blah blah blah blah blah....
He needs to get the federal blah blah blah blah
stop making excuses. blah blah blah blah
the president needs to blah blah
blah blah blah blah ZZZZzzzz........"

6

Catalina @3, good to hear the authorities in Omaha aren't fuckin' around.

Eli Sanders is making like the people who are violating the social distancing rules are just naive, innocent regular folks who are just behaving naturally and don't know any better. No, they are willfully putting other people's lives at risk. But this is just the sort of lazy, mush-for-brains thinking we've come to expect from The Stranger's "braintrust."

Before we even think of opening up more streets to pedestrians, the mayor and the county commissioner and the governor need to be giving law enforcement more tools and authority to hold individuals legally accountable for violating social distancing. In normal times, people don't die because of your thoughtlessness; people don't lose their livelihoods because of your thoughtlessness. Now they do.

7

@3 In Baltimore, this would just result in dead cops.

9

Eli Sanders: "At Alki beach, the newspaper also observed that closing the beach led to nearby sidewalks getting more crowded, which in turn made the beach seem like it might actually be the safer place to go for social distancing."

I invite Mr. Sanders to give a call to a doctor or nurse in the ICU at Harborview and share this clever observation with them and see what they think.

10

@1,

Oh, now let's not be ridiculous. Trump is quite obviously just as smart and capable as any of those fancy doctors and will be more than qualified to head up the response himself, making crucial and potentially life altering decisions relating to a deadly and ongoing global health crisis. He should also anoint himself an honorary Doctorate in Medicine or two, lest anyone question his competence in such a role. Oh, and a Presidential Medal of Honor, because why not?

11

Biden's plan was impressive. Not because it is eloquent or creative, but because he mentioned all the things that are needed to get the country moving again. Social distancing, testing, tracing, preparing the hospitals for flareups, enabling industries to operate with less risk of transmission. It is all reasonable stuff, and much of it has been done by countries for quite some time now, but it isn't clear whether Trump even understands half of it. The U. S. hasn't done enough testing, let alone tracing. Yet Trump just makes false statements about our level of testing. As a result, our response has all been mitigation, and that has varied from place to place (pretty good on the West Coast, horrible in New York).

This is not a partisan issue. It is not about ideology. This is a question of competence -- doing what the experts say we should do, instead of fucking around and spreading bullshit.

14

@1 Slayer Angel of Death

https://youtu.be/9VebUUenm_Y

15

Isn't it time to thank the unsung heroes of this pandemic, Seattle's grave, single family home owners?

The first idiot who stands up after this is over and says we need to upzone our low density districts will be laughed out of the room.

18

EASY METHOD TO FIX THE SOCIAL DISTANCING AT PARKS

Shut down the parking lane or road lane around and through the Park. Entirely. Tow and SELL FOR SCRAP all cars parking there. Allow people to walk or bike on that lane.
Couples should not "walk together" unless they have kids (teens or under). No exceptions.
Dogs and cougars should be kept on leashes. Free range pets will be hunted and sold as "hot dogs" - proceeds used to feed the homeless, who could use real food instead of that.
Anyone needing a cloth washable mask should be GIVEN ONE. Free.
Stop whining.

19

Good time to start boxing again. A heavy bag and a speed bag would go a long way.

21

The Burke-Gillman has been bad too - saw dozen of clusters of bikers the other day riding close-quarters and ignoring spacing. Hint: riding fast doesn't protect you from exposure.

22

LOL
The virus gives Leftist's hypocritical busybodies a new venue to nanny-nag their betters...

btw
Whatever happened to Climate Change?
Why isn't the planet a smoking smoldering hulk by now?
Damn; existential crises just ain't what they used to be.

Seems the ADD Left can only shit themselves over one manufactured crisis at a time...

24

We're always eager to learn!
please, you girls show us how to basic science.

26

Are you basic scienceing yet?
Tell us when you start...

28

@26 it's so cute how you think you're making an argument! Like an itty-bitty precious moments statuette called "lil troll thinks it's clever!" You just keep trying! You bring a big smile to everyone's day.

29

Are you doing it yet?
We can't tell.
So far basic science looks a lot like nagging...

30

I thought Dr. Fauci was very informative, tactful, and described the complexity of the many issues involved while avoiding "what if" speculations and possible traps.
We, WA, got an honorary mention.

33

Daddy- it is not yet a proof that the virus is a one time deal. It proved to come back to some already infected and recovered folks and may mutate into a more dangerous form. "Herd immunity" is a very dangerous gamble.

35

Dadddy @32, I appreciate your respectful, non-trolling disagreement. The problem with herd immunity is that it subjects all of us to a game of Russian roulette, with some of us having the gun a little more loaded than others of us.

But really, the path to some kind of partial opening of our economy and society is straightforward, and I'm not just pulling this out of thin air; I'm recounting what the scientists say. It's to make the testing extensive enough and the number of cases small enough that you can readily track and isolate them to prevent there from being further outbreaks. The only thing that seems to be missing from these experts' prescriptions--and it's a continuing source of frustration for me--is that they scarcely talk about travel restrictions.

The nations that have had success against the virus have done exactly what the scientists say they should do. And they've seen second-wave flare-ups precisely because they haven't been adequately restricting international travel.

37

@36 -- He has a point though. South Korea, for example, had pretty much squashed the virus. Then they got a bunch of new cases from Europe. It had basically circled the globe (or at least gone quite a ways around it and then back) before hitting South Korea again. They forget to test and/or track and/or quarantine folks from Europe or the Americas. They are doing that now.

This makes sense in islands (e. g. Singapore). The U. S. has plenty of those (Guam, the Hawaiian islands, etc.). Likewise Alaska. It would make sense to test all the people that come into the area, even if they aren't quarantined. Get their number, so if they test positive you can tell them, and ask them to stay put. Ideally you also install an app on their phone, so you know who they've contacted.

40

Daddy- why do you keep bringing up 18 months?
German sausage- A testing, analyzing period is essential and can be achieved in 2-3 months. A gradual opening in approved geographies is what Dr. Fauci suggests. It will also help determine where this thing is going.

41

Dadddy @38: "Without a testing program like South Korea has, we are left with two choices to prevent further outbreaks..."

Everything I'm talking about is predicated on there being an effective testing and tracing system.

As for people wanting to return to work, you write: "By doing this, they are actually PROTECTING the anxious and/or vulnerable members of the herd, not putting them at risk." The problem is that the "anxious and/or vulnerable" can only take so many precautions. They can't become hermits even if they wanted to. The people who are throwing caution to the wind are just loading more bullets into the chamber for the Russian roulette game everybody is being forced to play.

And I can assure you that many of the people who have died or become gravely ill were not among the "anxious and/or vulnerable" prior to their catching the virus. They thought they had nothing to worry about and were wrong. And how many people are going to feel undue economic pressure to put their lives and the lives of those around them at risk?

One last thing. What kind of economy are we going to open up to if a significant portion of the population is afraid to resume normal activities? I'm not going to subject myself to a horrible illness just because you're rarin' to go.

I'll agree with you on one thing. All this is not so clear cut. But on a menu of painful, radical choices, the only one that doesn't fall apart on close examination is the South Korea model with tougher travel restrictions.

44

Dadddy- I got that. How many people are advocating a shut down for the dentire time period?

GS- I'm all for it. Lets wait couple more weeks and see where we are. Assuming things get under control I would first open smaller communities where a return can be managed relatively easier. Possibly also reopen certain business in the cities.

45

It's amazing how fast those honorary doctorates in law and political science became honorary MD, PhD's in infectious disease.

And yet the actual MD MPH whom I live with is following the advice of the experts and not trying to tell the people she knows when or how this will all end.

Look, I get the itch. I was a stay at home dad for three years and went through a fair number of hoops so I could get back to work, just to have Covid19 basically negate all of that in a week. I'm not crying about my situation, but it's not where I wanted to be, and I didn't "find that out", I knew ahead of time. I also know that there are a lot of reasons we should actually be listening to the science and not trying to armchair it ourselves. Of course, that's so often the case and so rarely what we actually do.


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