@ABSORBER posted:I consider myself a logical person. My logic says that people who think this disease will just go away if we all take it seriously "because we are all in this together" are not very logical.
Taking this "seriously" means accept that it is here to stay, just like the flu and the common cold. Take precautions as necessary and get on with your life. Do you think this is the first time humans have dealt with disease? Do you think that this is a world-changing disease? Did the flu go away? Has the common cold (SARS variant) gone away? Can we be reinfected with the common cold? Is there a vaccine for the common cold? Do older and immune-compromised people die from the flu and other related complications (pneumonia)? Are there outliers where seemingly otherwise healthy people succumb to some affliction or another leaving people questioning how it could have possibly happened? Do some people have long-term health damage as a result of having pneumonia and other afflictions?
Are your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, people on your left and on your right dying every day? No? Then perhaps this isn't quite as bad as the media and political pundits have made it out to be. Perhaps those Swedes aren't so crazy after all.
What SHOULD happen when a student or teacher tests positive? First of all, I would imagine they were tested because they went to their doctor because they felt sick or showed symptoms. So hopefully they called in sick because, well, they felt too sick to attend. Everyone who shows up in class is there because they DID NOT FEEL SICK or DID NOT HAVE ANY SYMPTOMS. Does this mean they weren't exposed? No. Will they show symptoms or feel sick at a later date? Perhaps. If so they should stay home and perhaps visit a doctor who may or may not order a test to see if they have a particular disease: flu, strep, mono, COVID, bubonic plague, etc.. Does this practice sound familiar? Will people die? Yes. Will people die if we do remote-learning for everyone, wear masks, and forever give up sporting events and like activity? Yes. Will mankind be wiped off the face of the earth? I would guess probably not.
Make your choice.
I will make mine using common sense.
But please, please, please, just realize that it is here to stay. The rest of this year and for many, many, many years to come. That's reality. Take it seriously.
You are not taking it seriously. You are minimizing it. It is indeed here to stay and we will need to figure out how to live with it safely until we have a vaccine or more effective treatment so that it doesn't endanger anyone over 50 or with an underlying health condition. In the meantime, however long that is, we will need to do all the things our public health officials are urging us to do if we want any semblance of normal life and any sort of economic recovery. That is common sense and reality.
ETA: Perhaps we won't need to wait as long as we think. Here's a glimmer of good news. And I'm posting the study since I'm pretty sure you won't want to read the NYT.