I am sure Biden will rely more on input from scientists who are well versed in infectious diseases. He would not rely on people like Dr. Scott Atlas.
And I'll ask again "and do what"? Shutdown the economy again? See how well that is working around the world? Can you not admit that could be the worst thing we could do?
When coronavirus cases in Texas spiked, Abbott shut things down. When cases went down, he relaxed the rules, cases spikes, and he again put restrictions on businesses. I support our leaders, in this case a Republican governor, to make the best decision for us. Sometimes I agree and sometimes I disagree. Many countries that shut down once are shutting down again as the 2nd wave hits. I hope to God that we don't shut down again.
How about this line in Biden's plan.
Quote:
Biden believes we must spend whatever it takes, without delay, to meet public health needs and deal with the mounting economic consequences.
And there will be no consequences to "spending what ever it takes"? What if we spend trillions only to discover that none of the expensive measures makes a difference and our economy is in shatters and we finally have to admit that "herd immunity" was the only effective way to go since 99% of the population will survive. A terrible thought yes, to losing so many hundreds of thousands of people but we lose millions of people to hundreds of diseases that we can not control. Prior to Covid, we seem to have realized that. Did we decide to spend what ever it takes to eradicate the flu? Did we spend what ever it takes to eradicate poverty? Why not? Because money, all the money in the world, sometimes can not solve complex problems so we spend "what we can" not what ever it takes. That is what I call a sound monetary philosophy.
So we should not spend money just in case it doesn't make a difference? The flu is an unfair comparison -- it comes and it quickly goes. We have eradicated several diseases that at one time killed thousands if not millions of people. You are jumping to a conclusion that there is no answer other than to ride it out through herd immunity.
- President Donald Trump brought Dr. Scott Atlas, a vocal anti-lockdown critic, onto his coronavirus task force in August.
I am also an anti-lockdown critic ( shouldn't that actually be proponent? ) and I also believe in wearing masks because it might save a live or two and it ain't that big a deal on a temporary basis IMHO.
A lockdown was a tough choice for those who had to make it. The estimate was about 250,000 would die with a shutdown and 2 million without a shutdown.
- Atlas is a healthcare-policy expert who works at the Hoover Institute, a conservative think tank at Stanford University. He is not an infectious-disease expert.
So he should be silenced? No dissenting opinion allowed? Is that the path forward you want to take? Seriously? We will not longer be allowed to hear anything other than official government orthodoxy?
Certainly all opinions should be listened to. Trump unfortunately likes to surround himself with only those who agree with his opinions. Drs. Fauci and Birx are renowned figures in the field of infectious diseases and have been pushed to the sidelines because they disagree with Trump. Dr. Atlas has little to no expertise but is now Trump's right-hand man on the virus because he says what Trump wants to hear.
- Yet according to reports, Trump is sidelining other public-health experts while hearing Atlas' advice, and not spending money earmarked for a widespread testing program because Atlas is against expanded testing.
So am I. We have expanded testing exponentially and we are seeing more cases and more deaths so were is the evidence that more testing will stop this trend?
More testing will allow us to identify those that might have COVID-19 but be unaware of it and may be putting others in danger.
- Atlas also appears to be worrying top US health experts: CDC Director Robert Redfield was overheard saying "everything" Atlas says "is false," and Fauci said he worried Atlas was giving "incorrect" information to the president.
And you have chosen to believe what you want to believe. I would prefer two or more different opinions and I'll choice what I believe not be limited to hearing one side of the story.
Yes, I tend to more readily accept the opinions of those that are considered experts in a specific field over those that are not, whether it be COVID-19 or anything else. Trump is doing everything possible to downplay the COVID-19 pandemic. We'll wake up one morning and it will be gone. We are rounding the corner. A vaccine is imminent. There won't be a second wave.
I also believe Biden will be more upfront than Trump on the virus. We have not turned any corner. We are not weeks away from having a vaccine available.
Depends on whether we are talking about beginning emergency use which could save lives or general use for millions of people who will either not be infected or not have deadly re-actions.
I said we are not weeks away from having a vaccine available and we are not. The latest from the CDC says that maybe by the end of the year there will be a vaccine available in a quantity "to vaccinate our most vulnerable citizens". By the end of January, enough for all seniors. Then maybe by March or April have it available of everyone who wants it. And that is being optimistic according to the following article, released yesterday.
"It may be time to reset expectations on when we'll get a Covid-19 vaccine
The ambitious drive to produce Covid-19 vaccine at warp speed seems to be running up against reality. We all probably need to reset our expectations about how quickly we’re going to be able to be vaccinated."
https://www.statnews.com/2020/10/29/...id-19-vaccine/