This is one big column broken into two published pieces, intended as the one-stop-shopping place to understand where we stand on the COVID-19 pandemic and assess, with discernment, where we should go from here. These took serious time. Please consider them thoughtfully. Thanks. — Quin
The pandemic is getting worse and merits a major response (Sept. 15): The tragedy of the U.S. pandemic response is that conservatives tend not to take it seriously enough while liberals overreact with counterproductive solutions. Both responses make matters worse, meaning either more culturally and economically devastating or more deadly. Or both.
For more than six months, many conservatives have been saying the pandemic is effectively finished, especially for the vaccinated. Both the numbers and the nature of viruses show they are dangerously wrong. This contagion is a major ongoing threat .
On Aug. 7, when the rolling seven-day average of U.S. coronavirus daily deaths again rose above 500, alarm bells should have gone off: At that rate, the annual deaths would have been three times worse than even a bad year of ordinary influenza. Since then, the bad numbers have nearly quadrupled yet again. As I write today, the seven-day average of deaths-per-day is at 1,827, the highest since March 2 and still rising. If this keeps up for a whole year, 666,855 more Americans would die in 12 months from COVID-19, on top of the 662,000 who already succumbed in the past 18 months…. [Column one continues here.]
Here’s the plan we need, and it strikes a middle ground between extremes (Sept. 15):There’s a better way to tackle the coronavirus pandemic than the tactics President Joe Biden is trying.
Even if many people are too nonchalant about the pandemic, the liberal overreaction and impulse toward central command-and-control are counterproductive. Massive shutdowns produce significant cultural problems of their own , many mandates spur backlashes or are utterly impractical or perhaps unconstitutional , and masking requirements for children may do more harm than good .
While some limited mandates may be legal and advisable, they should be a carefully used tool, not bludgeons used indiscriminately. The elements of better anti-coronavirus policy, national, state, and local, should include the following….. [Sorry, but to see the actual elements, you’ll need to follow this link. Examiner copyrights don’t allow publishing the full piece here.]
