What's Next On The Coronavirus Timeline & What Happens If Trump Opens America Too Soon?

Alan: An enormous issue looms over America and just discussing it is ghoulish.

If Trump "re-opens" America prematurely -- or if he does not enact quarantine when COVID-19 comes back again -- we will have opportunity to "run The Experiment" that may be the most important experiment America has ever undertaken.

The hypothesis which Trump could "test" is whether or not Science (at least as it applies to health and medicine) is demonstrably superior to the widespread anti-scientific (and anti-intellectual) presumption (clung to by "conservative" "Christians") that faith is always superior to science, and that trusting in God's providence is The Godly Way by which people of faith prove God's transcendent love and goodness.

At issue is whether God "controls everything," or "are we human being's co-creators and "providence" plays itself out by acknowledging, publicly, decisively, and throughout our public life that the number of lives the Nazarene saved by miraculous intervention is dwarfed -- every single day -- by the use of antibiotics, anti-malarials and vaccination campaigns that take place in every one of the world's most remote backwaters.

(See my "bibliography" below.)

                              It's Going To Be Difficult

By David Leonhardt Opinion Columnist

First: The Times’s project on “The America We Need” continues, with Yaryna Serkez and me on the charts that show why America will struggle after the coronavirus crisis and Viet Than Nguyen on the ideas that won’t survive the crisis.

The virus: A Silicon Valley entrepreneur named Tomas Pueyo published a post on Medium last month called “The Hammer and the Dance.” It was a manifesto about how societies had to respond to the coronavirus, and it’s been viewed millions of times.

The hammer referred to the harsh initial steps necessary to stop the spread of the virus. We’re doing those now, and they’re working. The number of new confirmed cases each day stopped rising last week, both globally and in the United States.

But the dance — the more nuanced response that must come next — is just as important, and may end up being much more difficult than many people realize. “True normalcy is likely far off,” Jared Baeten, a University of Washington epidemiologist, told me.

I want to use this morning’s newsletter to help you understand what the next phase of the virus may look like. I see four major aspects of that next phase:

1. The new abnormal. By next month, the number of new cases could be quite low across much of the United States. But that won’t mean life can return to normal. The virus won’t have disappeared, and a return to normal activity would spark new outbreaks.

At that point, restaurants may reopen — but with people sitting only at every other table. Offices may reopen — but with workers alternating between on and off days, as has happened in parts of Asia. Large gatherings where people come in close contact, like sporting events, concerts and conferences, could still be a long time off. “That’s going to be hard,” Ashish Jha, the director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, told me, “and I don’t know that most Americans have come to grips with that.”

2. Testing, testing, testing. Even a partial return to normal life will require tremendous amounts of testing — testing of anyone who develops potential symptoms as well as random testing to know where hot spots are developing. The United States remains behind on testing and will need to continue catching up in coming weeks.

3. Contact tracing. That’s the technical term for tracking down anybody who has come in contact with a person who’s newly diagnosed with the virus. It is, as Caitlin Rivers of Johns Hopkins University says, “very laborious.” The city of Wuhan’s efforts included 1,800 contact-tracing teams, each containing five people. Some other countries are using personal cellphone data, closed-circuit cameras and credit card data to help their tracing efforts. Americans may not be comfortable with that approach — which would mean the American effort could either be less effective or more labor-intensive.

4. Quarantine. Knowing who has the virus isn’t enough, of course. People with new cases must be kept away from everyone else, immediately. Ideally, they wouldn’t go to normal hospitals to be tested; they would go to special clinics. And they wouldn’t be allowed to go home and retrieve personal items, either. A thorny question: What happens when somebody with the virus refuses to be quarantined? This next phase is going to be difficult. People will be impatient to return to their old lives. But here is the cruel reality: The places that return too quickly — and cause new outbreaks — will be the ones that end up suffering the longest periods of social distancing in the end.

"The Divinity Of Donald Trump"

The Daily Show

(These are the people who comprise the cohort of Americans who, by and large, are contemptuous of Public Health measures to bend the coronavirus curve in order to bring the disease under control.)

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-divinity-of-donald-trump-daily-show.html

"A Video Collage Of Trump's Arrogance: If You Are Even Vestigially Normal, You Will Sicken"

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/03/according-to-trump-only-human-who-can.html

Christian Pastor Who Thought COVID-19 Is Just "Mass Hysteria" Dies From Coronavirus

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/03/christian-pastor-who-thought-covid-19.html

"The Moral Confusion Of Trump Christians," John Pavlovitz

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-moral-confusion-of-trump-christians.html

"Conservative" "Christians" Refuse To Distinguish Between Punishment And Compassion

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/04/conservative-christians-dont-understand.html

Jimmy Carter On The Separation Of Church And State And The Danger Of Religious Superiority

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/04/jimmy-carter-on-separation-of-church.html

Facebook Dialogue With Christian Fundamentalist Friend Who Asks: "How Does Morality Work?"

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/04/facebook-dialogue-with-christian_4.html

"Compendium Of Pax Posts About Conservative Stupidity, Ignorance And Denial"

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-exquisite-stupidity-of-trump_3.html

Borowitz Report: "Trump Practicing Distancing From All His Prior Statements About Coronavirus"

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/04/borowitz-report-trump-practicing.html

"With Millions Of American Lives On The Line, Trump Finally Agrees With The Experts"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/04/with-millions-of-american-lives-on-line.html  

"Trump's Astonishing Coronavirus Quackery Culminating In A Rare Encounter With Truth"

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/03/trumps-astonishing-coronavirus-quackery.html

Trump Moves Goalposts To Another Universe — Says 100K Deaths Would Be "A Very Good Job"

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/03/trump-moves-covid-19-goalposts-to.html

"Bill Gates Predicted The Coronavirus In His 2015 TED Talk"

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/03/bill-gates-predicted-coronavirus-in-his.html

"I Don't Take Responsibility At All!" Verbatim Trump "Coronavirus Quote"

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/03/i-dont-take-any-responsibility-at-all.html

According To Current Data, The Coronavirus Death Rate Is 60% Higher Than The Death Rate For The Spanish Flu Of 1918

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-coronavirus-death-rate-is-60-higher_25.html

"N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo Just Gave THE BEST POSSIBLE Coronavirus Press Conference"

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-coronavirus-death-rate-is-60-higher.html

"Trump's Lies Are More Contagious Than..."

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/04/trumps-lies-are-more-contagious.html

   
Coronavirus Pandemic: Trump Does Not Intend To Save The U.S. Economy. He Intends To Save...

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-coronavirus-pandemic-trump-does-not.html

Coronavirus, Trump Cultists, And The "Intellectual Elites"

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/02/coronavirus-trump-cultists-and.html

A List Of Trump's Dimwittedly Destructive Medical And Public Health Policies Since Taking Office

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/02/a-list-of-trumps-stupid-medical-and.html

If You Had Bought Stocks At The Bottom Of Bush-Cheney's Great Recession, You Would Have Done Better Under Obama Than Trump.

And That's BEFORE The Coronavirus Collapse!

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/03/if-you-had-bought-stocks-at-bottom-of.html

What Was The Dow Jones Average The Day Trump Took Office. And How Does It Compare?

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/03/what-was-dow-jones-industrial-average.html

More In-Your-Face Trump Lies: United States Growth Rate 1990 Through 2019 - And Predictions For Beyond

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/03/united-states-growth-rate-1990-through.html

The Facts Are In: The Republican Party Is Terrible For Prosperity But Unparalleled At Economic Catastrophe
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-facts-are-in-republican-party-is.html

Needed: A New "Christian Science"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/05/needed-new-christian-science.html

"Since God Doesn't Heal Amputees, Humankind Will. The Future Of Christian Theology"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/07/since-god-doesnt-heal-amputees.html

Compendium Of Pax Posts On Theosis, The Limits Of Religion And A New "Christian Science"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/08/compendium-of-pax-posts-on-theosis.html

How Can A Human Being Be This Stupid?

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/04/how-can-human-being-be-this-stupid.html

Jimmy Carter On The Separation Of Church And State And The Danger Of Religious Superiority

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/04/jimmy-carter-on-separation-of-church.html

Is Ortega y Gasset The World's Most Important Modern Philosopher? (Most Discerning Prophet?)

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/03/is-ortega-y-gasset-most-important.html  

"The Kind Of Christian I Refuse To Be," John Pavlovitz 

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-kind-of-christian-i-refuse-to-be.html

Aquinas Discovers That "Divine Truth" Cannot Contradict Nature And "The Natural Light"

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/04/aquinas-discovers-that-divine-truth.html

"The Exquisite Stupidity Of Trump Supporters"

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-exquisite-stupidity-of-trump.html

"The Divinity Of Donald Trump"
The Daily Show
https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-divinity-of-donald-trump-daily-show.html