2 main groups of people who are asking for restrictions to stay in place: 1. people who can afford stay home- money in the bank, can work from home, can work around restrictions, or still getting a paycheck for whatever reasons 2. overwhelmed health care workers
If you mute group one, then the argument becomes a little more easier to follow:
how many people die immediately : suicide, from lack of access to medical care to treat other illnesses...is this number going to be greater or lesser than the number of covid deaths?
How many people die 'slow' deaths(can this number even be estimated?): loss of business, pushed into poverty which may be felt for generations, women and children locked up with their abusers etc
If there is a surge /second peak, does your health care facility have the resources to handle it?
If you are in group 2 and are still in favor of keeping restrictions in place, what is your criteria for lifting them?
I posted before; the sad fact is that if everyone (or even a vast majority) of people could actually behave like intelligent, considerate human beings, we wouldn't need a whole lot of rules and regulations.
Look at 2 of the countries that have been handling this pandemic comparatively well: South Korea and Singapore. Aggressive testing, contact tracing and very high mask usage.
New outbreaks/clusters are aggressively tested, traced and clamped down on quickly, and the only new clusters have been from unprotected contact. They have very few large clusters or waves, because masks in public are a commonly accepted practice.
Now look at other countries that DON'T have any of these measures in common use. Indonesia, India, Brazil and many Middle Eastern countries are being hit hard despite being hot climates. Rampant community spread.
If we ensured that our testing capabilities were ramped up sufficiently (and I mean real testing capability, not millions of tests that can't/aren't being done because we have a shortage of swabs, vials or any other required necessities), and ramped up PPE availability (especially masks) for HCWs AND every citizen in the nation, we should be able to reopen most businesses somewhat safely.
Unfortunately, there will be some businesses that are just too problematic to reopen safely right now. Bars are one. IMO, dine-in restaurants are a problem too. Consuming food and drink requires having your mourh and nose uncovered.
The article about the 1 infected person infecting several other people in a restaurant seated tables away, but in the path of the HVAC airflow, indicates that even spacing the clientele a little further apart, may not be safe.
Gyms are another business that would be difficult to safely reopen. Even if you limit the number of people in the gym at any one time, by its very nature, we're talking about an enclosed space where people are breathing hard and huffing and puffing (and if someone doesn't need to huff and puff in the gym, why go? Maybe take a stroll around your neighborhood instead?)
One asymptomatic individual in a gym is going to be spewing a lot of virus into the environment, and breathing through a mask isn't the most pleasant as it is. I doubt anyone would be wearing a filtering mask to work out in. Then you also have to contend with surface contamination of the equipment etc.
But it's like little kids who refuse to stop running around the house with lit matches. Mommy decides she has to punish them and lock away all the matches, because she doesn't think they're responsible enough to be safe.
We may not be ignorant children, but it sure would help if stopped acting like it.
