12 votes

Do you think the measures being taken to stop the virus will/are be(ing) effective? If not, which measures do you think would work best?

Posted by Kuromantis
Tags: coronaviruses.covid19, ask, coronavirus

Admittedly this depends on the measures being taken, which vary wildly from country/state to country, so you should probably specify where are these measures being taken to a national or state level depending in the location.

7 comments

  1. [2]
    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link
    No measures we take can be 100% effective, especially due to human nature and selfish assholes (e.g.), but I think this article perfectly sums up what health officials are trying to accomplish:...

    No measures we take can be 100% effective, especially due to human nature and selfish assholes (e.g.), but I think this article perfectly sums up what health officials are trying to accomplish: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/

    And given that the biggest threat this virus poses seems to be overwhelming our healthcare systems, I think everything being done to try to "flatten the curve" right now is absolutely justified. Annoying, inconvenient, somewhat scary, but justified.

    13 votes
    1. Gaywallet
      Link Parent
      If you want a retrospective report on what happened in China including timelines and when cities and governments were shut down, this is a good read as well And if you're a real data nerd, this...

      If you want a retrospective report on what happened in China including timelines and when cities and governments were shut down, this is a good read as well

      And if you're a real data nerd, this page has some good data on COVID-19.

      7 votes
  2. Deimos
    Link
    In the WHO Director-General's remarks today, he expressed that social-distancing is good, but not enough on its own, and repeatedly stressed that testing needs to be emphasized:

    In the WHO Director-General's remarks today, he expressed that social-distancing is good, but not enough on its own, and repeatedly stressed that testing needs to be emphasized:

    You cannot fight a fire blindfolded. And we cannot stop this pandemic if we don’t know who is infected. We have a simple message for all countries: test, test, test. Test every suspected case. If they test positive, isolate them and find out who they have been in close contact with up to 2 days before they developed symptoms, and test those people too.

    9 votes
  3. krg
    Link
    I'm not a public health official nor do I have any experience in epidemiology beyond movies, so my take is worth as much as an ill-fitting surgical mask: Steps towards mitigation will help, of...

    I'm not a public health official nor do I have any experience in epidemiology beyond movies, so my take is worth as much as an ill-fitting surgical mask:

    Steps towards mitigation will help, of course, but a whole lotta people are still going to get infected and a whole lotta people are going to die. I think that assuming you're already infected and taking steps to prevent spreading the disease will work pretty well (rational panic). Contracting the virus and surviving it will probably work best.

    The biggest danger, though, will be irrational panic. I can imagine people assaulting and stealing from others walking out of the market or even raiding other people's homes for goods. (if it hasn't already happened, yet)

    7 votes
  4. skybrian
    (edited )
    Link
    It's not really a binary question, but I was encouraged by what I saw today. Particularly, San Francisco bay area counties are going to "shelter in place" and closing non-essential businesses.

    It's not really a binary question, but I was encouraged by what I saw today. Particularly, San Francisco bay area counties are going to "shelter in place" and closing non-essential businesses.

    7 votes
  5. [3]
    Comment deleted by author
    Link
    1. [2]
      cfabbro
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Yes, it is. And for the record, that response has been to rapidly increase testing capacity and efficiency, impose travel restrictions and thorough screening at airports, and also rather harsh and...

      Clearly Seoul's response is working.

      Yes, it is. And for the record, that response has been to rapidly increase testing capacity and efficiency, impose travel restrictions and thorough screening at airports, and also rather harsh and invasive measures to increase said "social distancing"... even going so far as to GPS track confirmed infected people and live map their positions so others can avoid them. See:

      https://www.euractiv.com/section/coronavirus/news/commitment-transparency-pay-off-as-south-korea-limits-covid-19-spread/
      https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/11/south-korea-shows-that-democracies-can-succeed-against-coronavirus/

      7 votes
      1. Deimos
        Link Parent
        I posted the WHO Director-General's remarks in my other comment, but Ars Technica's article about them also pointed out how drastic the difference in testing between Korea and the US has been:

        I posted the WHO Director-General's remarks in my other comment, but Ars Technica's article about them also pointed out how drastic the difference in testing between Korea and the US has been:

        While other countries have performed hundreds of thousands of tests since the outbreak mushroomed out of China’s Hubei province in January, some estimates suggest that the US has tested a mere 38,000 people or so—a majority in just the last couple of weeks. In contrast, South Korea has been testing nearly 20,000 people every day.

        8 votes