Written by Riley Gould
The numerous opinions and facts surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic differ from one another in profound ways. This virus has had cities, counties, and states on various types of lockdown for about 220 days, affecting businesses, families, health, education, and more.
San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond explains how people have lost sight of the original goal for shutting down the county. He wants us to look at where we are now and ask ourselves, “How did we end up here?” How we have evolved from trying to “flatten the curve” back in March versus shutting down businesses and schools is simply staggering.
The goal in the beginning was to make sure we could avert overrunning hospitals by having enough hospital beds and equipment. Currently, the goal is quite different. We now have a flawed color-coded system, which does not have a “green tier” included in the system, which would allow businesses to fully open up.
The ultimatum of how we could escape this lockdown is if there’s a vaccine that effectively nullifies the virus. Of course we must continue working towards a vaccine, but that should not be the sole development that will allow for full reopening.
Here’s the reality: If you are under the age of 50, you have a 99.98% chance of surviving COVID-19. If you are below the age of 70, you have a 99.5% of surviving the infection. In the county of San Diego, only 6% of the hospital beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients, with thousands of beds left unused.
This lockdown has been detrimental for the physical and mental health of many people, but that’s being largely ignored by proponents of endless shutdowns. No decision is without costs and trade offs, but it’s time to realize that our current response has failed to consider the serious consequences.
