Comments by "0x777" (@0x777) on "Bjorn Andreas Bull-Hansen"
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What is the alternative? Because one thing is certain, if we don't do what we can to slow the infection rate as best as we can, our medical facilities get overwhelmed. And this isn't like the flu. Yes, the flu kills ten-thousands each year. But what can you do against the flu? Nothing. Stay in bed, take some meds, hope for the best. Some people die. That's not the difference yet.
The difference is that with this disease, there is something that can increase your chance of survival ten- or even twentyfold. Ventilators and trained medical personnel that can operate them is basically what separates someone with a 15-20% chance of death from someone whose chance to die is around the 1-2% mark. Now, ventilators and medical staff are short in supply. And even if Elon Musk or whoever the saviour of the day is can produce them in quantity, it does not increase the number of people who can actually make them work. You still need trained medical people to use them. And you can't simply shake a tree and they fall out of it, that takes years of training to do more good than harm with those things.
If we don't flatten that curve of infections, we'll see hospitals starting to make decisions on who gets to live and who gets to die. There are already stories from certain countries that I can't verify, so that that with a grain or two of salt, that hospitals there don't even bother trying to save people past 70 or even 60 years of age, because they are running out of medical equipment and staff.
Now ponder for a moment what will happen with a country when people get told that their father, grandfather or even son gets to die while someone else gets to live. Likely because they have more money or are otherwise deemed "more important".
If that happens, it's not the virus that's going to be the main culprit for a high body count. And I guess I do not have to tell you what we have at our hands then. Because yes, then there is definitely no turning back.
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