Friday, July 31, 2020

Grim Reality: Things To Suck Hard
For Foreseeable Future

As a bevy of experts all told The Daily Beast this week, “all this”—the lockdowns, shifting hot spots, and surges in deaths and hospitalizations that threaten local health systems—will probably last about two to three years total. By then, humanity may have come to better coexist with the virus. People will die from it less often, and have returned to healthier social and economic lives thanks to a dynamic set of tools. Those might include some combination of vaccines, non-pharmaceutical interventions, new testing technology, therapies, and even a potentially new administration willing to provide more consistent messaging and guidance that doesn’t undermine public health experts.
But there’s no longer much serious discussion about how to “eliminate” the virus—at least in the short term. Infectious disease experts say they are no longer sure that’s even possible.
“Epidemics have taught us that there won’t be a magic bullet...”
The truth is beautiful because it hurts.

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