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A comment on Candidate to Lead the W.H.O. Accused of Covering Up Epidemics (2017). Parent comment

Re:Candidate to Lead the W.H.O. Accused of Covering Up Epide... by nradov on Thursday April 09, 2020 @06:40PM (#22827946)
Put the source aside. What specifically is worse about this proposal than the current approach? A safe and effective vaccine is likely several years away. The economy can't be locked down for that long. The virus is too easily transmissible for containment and contract tracing to be effective. So most of us will be infected eventually. If they're going to get it anyway then doing so in a controlled environment might be a good option for some volunteers.

I'm not endorsing this approach, but we ought to at least analyze it rather than rejecting it out of hand.

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Re:Candidate to Lead the W.H.O. Accused of Covering Up Epide... by ceejayoz on Thursday April 09, 2020 @09:48PM (#22829133)
> What specifically is worse about this proposal than the current approach?

False dichotomy. There are far better things we could try.

One proposal I've seen batted around is widespread, rapid testing. Checkpoints on the interstates and elsewhere where you get one of the 15 minute rapid tests and get a day pass to continue on your way.

We know we can get R0 down with distancing; NYC's falling new hospitalizations numbers are a clear sign of that. Testing allows us to relax restrictions without it flaring up so fast, and lets us find the flare.

Add in universal, required mask wearing. None of the wishy-washy "we recommend..." bullshit.

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Re:Candidate to Lead the W.H.O. Accused of Covering Up Epide... by nradov on Thursday April 09, 2020 @10:12PM (#22829291)
It seems unlikely that the current Supreme Court would countenance such a blatant violation of the 1st and 4th Amendments regardless of the potential public health benefits. If you're going to propose an alternative then it needs to be something that could actually be implemented in the real world.

More widespread voluntary testing is certainly needed but it's going to take a while to scale up capacity.

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Re:Candidate to Lead the W.H.O. Accused of Covering Up Epide... by ceejayoz on Thursday April 09, 2020 @11:29PM (#22829746)
The Supreme Court has a long history of upholding things like quarantines and curfews during public health emergencies.
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Re:Candidate to Lead the W.H.O. Accused of Covering Up Epide... by nradov on Friday April 10, 2020 @08:33AM (#22832376)
Read the precedents. There's no question that infectious disease carriers can be forcibly quarantined. But forcing apparently healthy people to undergo an invasive medical procedure (a search) in order to exercise their right to assemble would be another thing altogether. And long-term curfews for adults have never been upheld.
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Re:Candidate to Lead the W.H.O. Accused of Covering Up Epide... by ceejayoz on Friday April 10, 2020 @12:40PM (#22834715)
We've already banned or severely restricted the right to assemble in like 40+ states, and there's not much reason to believe that won't survive court challenges.
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Re:Candidate to Lead the W.H.O. Accused of Covering Up Epide... by notechback on Friday April 10, 2020 @01:31AM (#22830263)
Vaccine is expected latest by spring.
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