Is it only fear itself we have to fear? Or not?

"I just hope that many minds much sharper than mine, are looking for the proper balance. Starve the virus, without starving the economy. Can we do it? Sure hope so. Meanwhile, we are five weeks (and change) away from May 1st."

We need to come together and find a solution. And we need to do it fast. On what? The vaccine? We have already covered that. Not quite. We need to find a solution to where the happy median is. Some are saying we have way over-reacted in shutting so many things down. That it is tanking the economy. No doubt that statement has validity. Also, the number of people who will die from this will be way less than previous outbreaks as well as the common flu. That statement might also have merit.

But on the other side of the equation are the caution flags. The people who think this COVID - 19 is a different bird all together. Even our own (and highly respected) Mike Osterholm, thinks once this virus has run its initial course, our new normal will look different from our old normal. More and more cities and states are starting either a formal or informal "shelter in place" practice. That the only way we can win this thing, is to continue to "starve" this virus, until we can "kill it" with a vaccine.

The President seems to think our biggest priority right now is protecting our citizens. Making sure as few as possible die from this thing. He is convinced (and oh, do we hope he is right on this one), that once we "flatten the curve", and start serious testing of a working vaccine, our economy will come roaring back to life. But to do that, we must first hibernate our economy to such a degree, it might look to be dead. 

Some think the reason Italy is having such a high death toll, is due mostly to age and pre-existing conditions. That might be true. If it is, Italy has shown itself to be a fairly unhealthy place to live. How so? Way short on resources needed to fight this thing - as well as being very slow to react when it first appeared. But Italy is still used as the example of how things could be if we don't react correctly to this virus.

Yesterday, I took some fire across my bow, as I suggested a national "shelter in place" until May 1st. It would not be a full shut down - many could still work from home if their type of job allowed it. People would still be employed at health care facilities, grocery stores, and drug stores. Farmers would still be able to farm their land. And some factories which had the proper protections would be allowed to remain open.

Just out of coincidence, yesterday afternoon, the on-line USA Today had an editorial by a person named Yaneer Bar-Nam. He is an MIT guy who studies pandemics. His thesis in the editorial was the same as mine. Shut things down for five weeks (that would put us out to around May 1st). Was he right? Was I right? Unknown, at this point in time.

I just hope that many minds much sharper than mine, are looking for the proper balance. Starve the virus, without starving the economy. Can we do it? Sure hope so. Meanwhile, we are five weeks (and change) away from May 1st. Until we reach that date, good luck to us all.