If you watch what the leftwing crazies say on Twitter, you can see the storm rising in response to the President saying yesterday that we have to get the economy back closer to normal by ending national shutdowns and letting businesses reopen. One trending item on Twitter is #GOPDeathPanels. There is non-stop criticism of what Trump said. Basically, the line is that Trump is a heartless plutocrat who only cares about the wealthy. It's an obvious lie from people who hate the President or the Republicans, but it's a dangerous lie nevertheless.
Here's what was actually said at the briefing yesterday.
1. We can't stay shut down for many months without destroying much of the economy.
2. We the economy destroyed in that way, we could see tens of millions of people wiped out. They would be left penniless in an economy that could not come roaring back. For example, the family that owned a deli or other small restaurant would not only lose the income from that business but also all of the money it had invested in it. All the workers who got paid by that business would also be left in the cold. Small business of all sorts would be wiped away and with them there would be a loss of the capital needed to open replacements.
3. We need to find a balance so that the country can get back to work quickly.
4. One thing that has been established during the current shutdown is a testing apparatus that lets us see where the virus concentrations are. This is the standard public health method for fighting an epidemic. Now that we have this information and can update it constantly, we can focus containment efforts in those places where the virus is rampant. For example, in New York City which has about 30% of all cases in the country there need to be a continuing fight against the virus. In a state with few cases (there are over ten with less than 100), we may be able to relax the way we deal with the virus.
5. Relaxation of the fight against the virus does not mean letting people die. Rather, the idea would be something like having the elderly and those with dangerous medical conditions continue to stay home away from possibly catching the virus while the rest of the people went back to more normal life. There would be continued monitoring of the levels of infection. If the virus started to explode in a particular location, further local restrictions could be put in place. On the other hand, if a region showed that it had gotten past the major virus problem, the restrictions could be relaxed.
6. If Hydroxychloroquine turns out to work as a preventative, then once production can be ramped up, threatened populations could be placed on the drug.
That's hardly a push to let people die so that millionaires will still be able to pay for their yachts -- a favorite line on Twitter.
People need to be honest and realistic. This is a major war we are fighting. Spreading panic through lies is totally counterproductive and dangerous. It has to stop.
Here's what was actually said at the briefing yesterday.
1. We can't stay shut down for many months without destroying much of the economy.
2. We the economy destroyed in that way, we could see tens of millions of people wiped out. They would be left penniless in an economy that could not come roaring back. For example, the family that owned a deli or other small restaurant would not only lose the income from that business but also all of the money it had invested in it. All the workers who got paid by that business would also be left in the cold. Small business of all sorts would be wiped away and with them there would be a loss of the capital needed to open replacements.
3. We need to find a balance so that the country can get back to work quickly.
4. One thing that has been established during the current shutdown is a testing apparatus that lets us see where the virus concentrations are. This is the standard public health method for fighting an epidemic. Now that we have this information and can update it constantly, we can focus containment efforts in those places where the virus is rampant. For example, in New York City which has about 30% of all cases in the country there need to be a continuing fight against the virus. In a state with few cases (there are over ten with less than 100), we may be able to relax the way we deal with the virus.
5. Relaxation of the fight against the virus does not mean letting people die. Rather, the idea would be something like having the elderly and those with dangerous medical conditions continue to stay home away from possibly catching the virus while the rest of the people went back to more normal life. There would be continued monitoring of the levels of infection. If the virus started to explode in a particular location, further local restrictions could be put in place. On the other hand, if a region showed that it had gotten past the major virus problem, the restrictions could be relaxed.
6. If Hydroxychloroquine turns out to work as a preventative, then once production can be ramped up, threatened populations could be placed on the drug.
That's hardly a push to let people die so that millionaires will still be able to pay for their yachts -- a favorite line on Twitter.
People need to be honest and realistic. This is a major war we are fighting. Spreading panic through lies is totally counterproductive and dangerous. It has to stop.
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