Thinking it Through

We need some clarity here. We seem to have a tiger by the tail. We are keeping virus deaths down by isolating, but this cannot continue, or people are going to starve. Yet if we open up again, aren’t we only back where we started?

I had been hoping for a miracle cure. I had been hoping that hydroxychloroquine, perhaps in combination with zinc and azithromycin, might reliably treat COVID-19, making it no worse than the flu. That might still be so. The chief problem may still be a lack of supply. But each day that goes by without this being announced, or clearly showing up in the raw numbers of people dying or admitted to intensive care, makes it seem less likely. We are seeing numbers ease, but not dramatically fall.

Another effective treatment might also be discovered. Then the time we have bought would make sense.

But what if none of this happens within the next few weeks?

The solution seems to be to test everyone, and then continue to test aggressively. If we know reliably who has the illness, we can quarantine just them, and everybody else can go back to work.