The wonderful news is, we’re about to have an objective science experiment with side by side results.
The red states are opening up as we speak. If they DON’T see a massive spike that overwhelms their health systems, they’re going to be vindicated and will be able to claim victory on their strategy.
The blue states are going to stay locked down for the foreseeable future. If the numbers from the red states are bad, they’ll get to claim victory on their strategy.
Based on Sweden’s outcomes, the death rate being approximately .3%, and hospital systems not being overwhelmed, I think it’s pretty clear what way this is going to go. Intelligent distancing while trusting people versus draconian measures appears to make no significant difference.
We’re going to look back on COVID as a Y2K-type hysteria. The people currently wearing surgical masks while sleeping are going to completely wipe this from their memory and never admit to buying into it.
h/t AgainstDespots