Is South Dakota right? Is Florida right?

"All eyes will be on Florida to see if this grand experiment works. For their sake, I hope it does."

Florida, the home to just over 20 million people, has been through the wringer with this virus thing. They have shut things down (for a while), closed the beaches (for a while), and generally inconvenienced the population, and scared away many tourists. Even with all of that, Florida has still had 700,000 cases of COVID - 19 and 14,000 deaths. In short, Florida tried to do everything right, and still got hammered. So the Governor of Florida had an idea. Since COVID is the world we live in now, and most infectious disease experts have told us it is here to stay, screw it - open the state up. Be like South Dakota. No mask mandate anywhere in Florida, and all bars and restaurants open to full capacity.

Governor DeSantis, have you taken leave of your senses? Our Governor, "No Balz Walz", would never in a million years do something like that! But wait just a minute. One of the world's most knowledgeable infectious disease experts (Dr. Mike Osterholm) lives here in Minnesota. He has said that this virus will keep spreading until 60% of us are infected. Some will get it and not know it, some will become slightly sick, some will get real sick, and some will die. After 60% of the population gets infected, a "herd immunity" will take over. 

Let's play this out just for a minute. South Dakota, with a fraction of the population that Florida has, never had a mask mandate. Many to most of the restaurants have remained open. Some South Dakota people have gotten sick, and yes, some have died from COVID - 19. But life has gone on. Business has continued. Schools have continued. And in South Dakota, as in most states, hospital ICUs have NOT been maxed out. AND - the entire purpose of most state shut downs, was to keep a surge in illness from maxing out the hospitals.

So what is new? First off, vaccines. China is ready to produce a billion doses of theirs. We are on the cusp of having three different vaccines, thanks to Project Warp Speed. Other countries are also proceeding with vaccines. Our medical professionals are learning how to treat this virus better. More people are recovering, and faster. Remdesivir and Hydroxychloroquine are just two of the more promising drugs being used. Does this mean we are getting to the end of this tunnel? Maybe or maybe not - but at least there is now some hope.

All eyes will be on Florida to see if this grand experiment works. For their sake, I hope it does. Because we are all adults, and if all restaurants were re-opened to full capacity each one of us could ascertain the risk factor of eating there. With all the bad things which have happened in 2020, maybe we are due for some good news. Come on Florida! We are pulling for you!