When the lock downs were first enacted, we were told that it was a necessary step to “flatten the curve.” If everyone stayed home, spread of the coronavirus would slow. Eight months later new cases are now hitting 200,000 a day (versus less than 30,000 a day when the lock downs started). Clearly, the lock downs haven’t worked. In this brief interview, Dr. Amesh Adalaja, an infectious disease expert who opposes lock downs, points out why.
The lock downs, Adalja notes, may have been efficacious in slowing the pandemic if government had used them as an opportunity to ramp up its response. As one example, he cites the lack of tests and the long delays in obtaining results–delays that allow the infected to continue spreading the virus.
The real solution is the model followed by Taiwan–testing, isolating the infected, and contact tracing. Those who are infected should be quarantined. Those who aren’t infected should be free to live their lives. Instead, the government has acted as if all of us are infected and quarantined most of the nation.
Europe, which has followed the lock down model, has also experienced a surge in new cases. The continent was reporting less than 40,000 new cases per day in late March. Today, more than 200,000 new cases are routine.
Sadly, this massive loss of life was not necessary. All that was required was an objective evaluation of the facts and action based on principles.