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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b>From:</b> extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Stathis Papaioannou via extropy-chat<br><b>>>…</b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'> How do we estimate the cost of continuing the shutdown? I am open to suggestion.</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>>…Do you think that letting COVID run unchecked would be better for the economy, students, the medical system, mental health?<o:p></o:p></p></div></div></div><p class=MsoNormal>-- <o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>Stathis Papaioannou<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Stathis, at some point we need to look at the definition of the term “unchecked.” The countermeasures we have are masks, social distancing, vaccines and shutdowns.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>By now plenty of us recognize that masks are mostly for show. They might be better than nothing, but perhaps not much better. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Shutdowns: it doesn’t look to me like they work all that well. Many people interpreted the stay-home mandate as a requirement to stay indoors, which increased transmission rather than decreased it, as well as causing other health problems we are still seeing. That one definitely harmed young people. We closed schools for a year, but students don’t seem to catch very easily and even if they do, their young immune systems are generally up to the task, after which they get natural immunity, which is better than medication-induced immunity. Some students prospered but generally students didn’t do as well with remote learning. Schools like to focus on the disparity between the academic haves vs have nots, well… heh… do let me assure you, that has never been so stark as it is after the year off. Some students turned stepping stones to stumbling blocks, others stumbling blocks to stepping stones.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>We can compare places which have shutdowns to places which do not, such as Florida vs… well pretty much anywhere else and see that without shutdowns and masks, Florida is doing well. Old population there, flabby as all hell, but doing well against covid anyway.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Vaccines: I have weighed the risks and decided to go ahead with them, even though I think I have natural immunity from my Dec 2019 experience. I took a second J&J last week. Felt lousy for one day. OK, good deal.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Social distancing, HEY! I am all for it. But I am that way. I am in my social element right now. I don’t need to meet and greet, when I can type and snipe. That’s my way. I am not a social butterfly, rather more of a social… cockroach. I can wave from a distance. The masks make it easy because they can assume I am smiling, when I am being a grinch back here behind this paper imaginary barrier against virii. I must grudgingly admit that plenty of people I care about are suffering terribly under the whole social distancing, the naturally gregarious types, oh they miss the big parties and night clubs and such. OK, well… I don’t know what to tell them really.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>At some point we really need to study what happened in Florida. Their governor said no shutdowns, no mandates. That place is a good laboratory. If our countermeasures don’t work, then ja it is harmful to keep employing them.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>spike<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div></body></html>