Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Friday, June 26, 2020

Age And Covid-19

We are seeing a massive increase in Covid cases nationwide, though especially concentrated in the South and Southwest. We are not - as of now - seeing a massive spike in deaths. Josh Marshall runs through some theories as to why, but the most likely reason is that younger people are the ones getting sick. I know that the restrictions at my mom's elder care facility are very stringent, and we know that elder care facilities are terribly vulnerable to Covid deaths.

Marshall also notes that over time this wave of young people will spread the virus into the elderly and cause another wave of deaths. My guess it will get into a community like the Villages in Florida and cause a wave of deaths. (This also might explain why Biden is doing so well with voters over the age of 65.  They ain't playing when it comes to Covid.)

There is possibly a case that we are backing ourselves into a form of herd immunity. If we lock the elderly away and the rest of the country goes ahead and gets mostly back to normal, maybe we get to a level of herd immunity that makes it harder for the virus to spread. The problem with this is could lead to half a million deaths. 

Let America Breathe Again.

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