Remember that scene in Jaws where the Mayor of Amity Island opens the beaches while there remains a very large, very carnivorous, and very deadly shark roaming the waters?
Cue Dan O’Donnell, apparently the staff epidemiologist over at the MacIver Institute who last week wondered aloud why the Evers and Biden administrations aren’t opening things up since the Covid numbers are crashing all around us. Here’s why, Dan.
Three days after O’Donnell published his ” deep dive” into the Covid-19 data, the Associated Press published this headline on March 6th : ” Europe staggers as infectious variants power coronavirus surge”. From the AP report:
“The spread of the variants is driving the increase, but not only,’’ said Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, citing “also the opening of society, when it is not done in a safe and a controlled manner.”
Multiple public health experts from Anthony Fauci to Michael Osterholm have routinely remarked over the last year that the US is typically a few weeks behind Europe in infection trends, which suggests strongly that what’s happening in Europe right now is about to happen here. And we are especially vulnerable to a surge given that republican governors across the country are lifting restrictions, from mask mandates to capacity limits, wholesale.
So the best thing we can do right now is continue to wear masks, continue to social distance, be cautious about re-opening everything from schools to restaurants, etc, and get vaccinated as soon as you can.
And if you see Dan O’Donnell at the beach, probably best to give him a wide berth.
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