Well, if you aren't tired of corona this and corona that, you have a lot more patience than I do.
"Phil, everyone has more patience than you!"
True dat, but it is May 8th, and at this point there is no end in sight. Hopefully, by the time this posts, things will be headed back to normalcy.
At this point, restrictions have been lifted a bit in most states in the US. There is little information on the impact of lifting restrictions on the infection rate. The death rate has risen a bit, but these are not the data we need, since they were likely infected before the ease in restrictions. And, the OVERALL death rate is the most informative. People are always dying of something--and one of our friend's neighbors just committed suicide. Whether it was indirectly tied to COVID-induced isolation is unknown. So self-quarantine has its own death-toll, and though it is impossible to fully know, the economic and other pressures take their own toll.
One of the "good" things of this crazy situation may be that people realize that science is NOT this cool detached quest for "truth". Medical researchers are finding, and publicizing, differing responses and different recommendations, based on differing data. And, I want to point out as a career scientist this is ALWAYS the way science is. The truth may or may NOT be related to the latest scientific pronouncement. The recommendation to "...just follow the science" means that I am sure we will go the WRONG direction for a while. The good thing is that eventually science works it out, but don't forget that word, "eventually". We are not at that point yet, but maybe science will get there soon.
So, we plod along in uncertainty. The suspicion that the media have led us astray--intentionally or accidentally--is mounting, and that is probably good too. Like science, the news media often get it wrong for a while, but unlike science, they don't always ever get some things right.
So have a safe day, and remain skeptical my firends, of science and the media. May COVID be
headed for "over" as you read this.
"Phil, everyone has more patience than you!"
True dat, but it is May 8th, and at this point there is no end in sight. Hopefully, by the time this posts, things will be headed back to normalcy.
At this point, restrictions have been lifted a bit in most states in the US. There is little information on the impact of lifting restrictions on the infection rate. The death rate has risen a bit, but these are not the data we need, since they were likely infected before the ease in restrictions. And, the OVERALL death rate is the most informative. People are always dying of something--and one of our friend's neighbors just committed suicide. Whether it was indirectly tied to COVID-induced isolation is unknown. So self-quarantine has its own death-toll, and though it is impossible to fully know, the economic and other pressures take their own toll.
One of the "good" things of this crazy situation may be that people realize that science is NOT this cool detached quest for "truth". Medical researchers are finding, and publicizing, differing responses and different recommendations, based on differing data. And, I want to point out as a career scientist this is ALWAYS the way science is. The truth may or may NOT be related to the latest scientific pronouncement. The recommendation to "...just follow the science" means that I am sure we will go the WRONG direction for a while. The good thing is that eventually science works it out, but don't forget that word, "eventually". We are not at that point yet, but maybe science will get there soon.
So, we plod along in uncertainty. The suspicion that the media have led us astray--intentionally or accidentally--is mounting, and that is probably good too. Like science, the news media often get it wrong for a while, but unlike science, they don't always ever get some things right.
So have a safe day, and remain skeptical my firends, of science and the media. May COVID be
headed for "over" as you read this.
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