It was some time in an entirely different age, more than a full season removed from today, that we were told we had to shut down most of America to flatten the curve of coronavirus infections.
"If you look at the curves of outbreaks, they go big peaks, and then come down. What we need to do is flatten that down," Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in early March, just before the lockdown cascade began.
Within days, Kaiser Health News reported that "Such steps will help mitigate a surge in cases that could overwhelm the hospital system." At roughly the same time, Drew Harris, a Thomas Jefferson University population health researcher, told National Public Radio that delaying the spread of new cases of coronavirus over the course of weeks or months was needed so the health care system could "Adjust and accommodate all the people who are possibly going to get sick and possibly need hospital care."
In May, "The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that the risk of death for people with COVID-19 symptoms is just 0.05% among patients younger than 50," says Reason's Jacob Sullum.
The U.S. flattened the curve in April.
As the Miami Herald is telling us, "Younger, less sick coronavirus patients surging through hospitals," Miami-Dade hospitals have reported "Far more beds available than beds filled with COVID patients." Officials in Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth are also saying they have sufficient hospital capacity.
Conditions in Los Angeles are tighter, but the county is still two to three weeks from running out of hospital beds.
"If you look at the curves of outbreaks, they go big peaks, and then come down. What we need to do is flatten that down," Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in early March, just before the lockdown cascade began.
Within days, Kaiser Health News reported that "Such steps will help mitigate a surge in cases that could overwhelm the hospital system." At roughly the same time, Drew Harris, a Thomas Jefferson University population health researcher, told National Public Radio that delaying the spread of new cases of coronavirus over the course of weeks or months was needed so the health care system could "Adjust and accommodate all the people who are possibly going to get sick and possibly need hospital care."
In May, "The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that the risk of death for people with COVID-19 symptoms is just 0.05% among patients younger than 50," says Reason's Jacob Sullum.
The U.S. flattened the curve in April.
As the Miami Herald is telling us, "Younger, less sick coronavirus patients surging through hospitals," Miami-Dade hospitals have reported "Far more beds available than beds filled with COVID patients." Officials in Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth are also saying they have sufficient hospital capacity.
Conditions in Los Angeles are tighter, but the county is still two to three weeks from running out of hospital beds.
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