This disease isn't going away, it will be here for years. Even after a vaccine is approved and available, lots of folks will refuse it. The virus will carry on. As I read in another post, this is a 100 year disease, just like a 100 year flood. In the future, we can live on, by simple measures, don't crowd, and wear a mask. a couple small proven measures that honestly are not a big deal. I'm heading to the motoAmerica races this weekend here north of pittsburgh, I will wear my mask when walking amongst the crowd, pits, etc. We are taking our cooler, beers, food, chairs, and picking a spot on the hill, staying away from the bleachers. Life can go on, travel can resume, just need people to take the precautions. The big question, what happens in a couple weeks when school opens? Thats why we are leaving for the Adirondacks on monday after the races, not taking a chance on a 2nd lockdown without getting a bike trip in!!
Once there's a vaccine widely available, those who choose not to get it are on their own. For now I will do my best not to get or spread COVID-19. After I have received a vaccine and read reports that it works in the wild, I will travel more like I have in the past. There may be some people who have a real health problem and cannot receive the vaccine. These people deserve more precautions from me. Other people denounce all vaccines, call COVID-19 a hoax, say masks are tyranny, etc. These people don't get much sympathy from me. I am sorry that they choose such bad information sources.
Interesting. The data on masks says in 'normal situations', they reduce your chances from 17% to 3%, or a 5.67-fold reduction. That would drop the Ro from 3.18 to 0.56, or roughly equivalent to lockdown. I've heard that universal mask wearing could beat this, eventually, and this number agrees with that. The key is 'universal', which the freedum lovers in the US aren't going to do. The same source said that according to the USN, in 'crowded' situations, masks only reduced the likelihood from 81% (yikes!) to 56%, or 1.44 fold. That would reduce 3.18 to only 2.21, which is still shockingly contagious. This is why we have to shut down establishments, like bars, that are crowded. Masks don't work well enough there, for a variety of reasons, mostly related to distance and how much the air is re-breathed or exchanged, I suspect.
People don't like draconian measures but they also aren't willing to do the bare minimum either. They are lazy.
You are making a good point and I don't disagree with the main premise - even my wife and I have the luxury of being able to stay employed and work from home through this - but you're still oversimplifying. There are some in power who want to give people money to stay home so they don't starve, so it's not really a clear-cut Marie Antoinette situation. I can't be bothered to even attempt to address overwhelming amount of utter bullsh*t in your post. It's not my responsibility to educate someone who isn't interested in learning. Your arguments range from misinformed nonsense to outright falsehoods and lies. At least it's not difficult to detect that you're not a credible source of information on any of this. Agree with all of this, and lines up with what my wife and I have discussed. We've also decided we won't be first in line for a vaccine, and will wait until effectiveness and side effects are understood. We're both pretty careful about we put into our bodies and like to have has much info as possible. And like I mentioned above, we don't HAVE to get out into the world for anything, so we can afford to wait a little.
First post-holiday schools opened here in germany on monday, more will open nexte week. In some regions masks are required even during classes.... guess we will see in a few weeks how good those holiday-returners will spread..... And here in north-rhine-westphalia they will charge a fine from next wednesday on in public transport for those who refuse to wear a mask, 150€. no warnings, pay and leave the train/bus/ect....
AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Norschleife will be a "test" this weekend.... 5.000 spectators will be allowed, in "groups" of 1.000, located around the track with no "meeting-points" for thos groups. If it works and the overal situation doesn´t change at all within the next weeks maybe F1 and 24h race will allow also spectators....maybe....