Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

Re:Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition by SpicyLemonZest on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @01:23PM (#24213072)

The problem is, what's post-COVID? The virus won't be eradicated any time soon, even after a vaccine arrives; most experts predict a timeline of decades to never. I doubt many mayors are supervillains who want to keep people miserable just for the sake of it - but I worry that quite a few might feel like they have to as long as cases are being detected. (Why do we still have strict TSA restrictions, even though everyone agrees they make flying miserable and everyone knows they're unreliable at actually detecting dangerous objects in luggage?)

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Re:Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition by dredmorbius on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @03:01PM (#24214663)

Long-term, what you might expect to see are structuraal changes rather than prohibitions.

Disease transmission is a communications and network problem -- there are the unobserved opportunities for infection, the known observed cases, the transmission rates, incubation and course-of-illness periods, acquired immunity, mortality, morbidity.

In periods of outbreak you need hightened disease surveillance, increased blocking of transmission, and reduced opportunities for infection. Barriers, reduced crowds, improved sterilisation and surface cleaning, fewer shared-touch interfaces (from touchscreens to bannisters), and the like.

These will likely be instituted through building and health codes, not so much activity restrictions. Some high-contact activities (bars, nightclubs, theatres, amusement parks) may well be subject to temporary closures. But expect these to be contingent on infection levels.

Do expect to see massive changes in office/work, retail, and transport designs, hoever. Possibly travel and quarantine restrictions.

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Re:Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition by throwawaygh on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @02:33PM (#24214208)

> I doubt many mayors are supervillains who want to keep people miserable just for the sake of it - but I worry that quite a few might feel like they have to as long as cases are being detected.

Why would they have to? It certainly wouldn't be in their electoral self-interest.

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Re:Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition by SpicyLemonZest on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @04:32PM (#24216003)

The concern is that we might end up in a state where COVID restrictions are considered so obvious that they're not even a matter of electoral self-interest; where abolishing COVID restrictions sounds as extreme as abolishing taxes or abolishing the military. Many people say they don't want the restrictions gone until COVID is eradicated, and I believe they're telling the truth.

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Re:Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition by drran on Thursday August 20, 2020 @03:43AM (#24220860)

Solutions are found already. They must be scaled out to whole world: vaccine, contact tracing, masks in public buildings and public transport in case of outbreak, air and surface disinfection at constant rate, vitamin supplements, etc.

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