When Is The Point of No Return?

Have we passed it?

The spread of this virus is a two way street. You get and you give it. Everyone who gets it got it from someone who was not containing their virus load. Likewise those who get it were not being protective of receiving the gift that keeps on giving.

So far many of the sick and the dead had no choice in the matter. Nursing home residents were assisted by staff who got and gave it. Prisoners have no choices. Cruise ship passengers were “a captive audience.” First Responders and hospital staff are at risk from patients and onerous administrators. Food production factory workers labored in close quarters to maintain the nation’s food supply. These people were the victims of their circumstances.

In this world today everyone who is not distancing, containing their potential viral load and generally practicing good. Pandemic Hygiene is guilty of contributing to suffering and death, the economic slowdown, increasing the duration of containment measures and a massive increase of medical costs both for themselves when their luck runs out and for the people they infect.

We all must include ourselves in a comprehensive solution or that solution will fail. Isolated pockets of containment resisters make it impossible to stop the contagion. Every time you think the fire is out it will flare up because it is not.

So far compliance has been mostly voluntary with a few states issuing mandatory rules but not being comfortable with enforcement. When we reach the threshold of no return, a national emergency might be declared. and non-compliance criminalized.

Keep in mind you (we) elected the officials who are in charge of the national response to this pandemic. Some might not agree with the process but we must work with it not against it. Protestors of the process are little different than any other people who engage in civil disobedience. The only difference is some of them carry a concealed weapon of mass distraction on their breath.

It took 3–1/2 months to reach the 3 millionth infection and only 2 weeks to reach the 4th. Two-weeks more, 2 after that and 2 weeks again… this is the entirely predictable scenario we have talked about while doing nothing to slow it down.