In a not-so-lucid rant, founder of Barstool Sports Dave Portnoy reflected on the coronavirus (COVID-19), lockdown, and potential cures on his Twitter account.
Emergency Press Conference - When Did Flattening The Curve Turn Into Finding The Cure https://t.co/ZaSTxL6Tuc— Dave Portnoy (@Dave Portnoy) 1589414400.0
Part of Portnoy's frustration comes from the closure of states like Los Angeles, where the mayor stated, "We'll never be fully open until we have a cure." While Los Angeles is taking a really firm stance against the pandemic and waiting for a cure, places like Florida are beginning to open up.
Through an intense use of profanity, he's making the point that Americans were told that quarantine, lockdowns, and closures were to flatten the curve, not to wait it out for a cure and who knows when there will be a cure for coronavirus.
Portnoy compares it to things like AIDS and cancer, which remain cureless. However, these things are only comparable insofar as to create an atmosphere of fear that lockdowns are not in our best interest because they may never be lifted because cures are difficult to develop.
COVID-19 can spread in an instant, between person to person. AIDS cannot spread like COVID-19. Cancer cannot be transmitted person to person. They just simply are not comparable.
And, there are hopes of a cure with the World Health Organization spearheading a drug trial with thousands of patients.
So, while Portnoy makes a good point that we should have the ability to choose whether we want to take our chances with coronavirus or lockdown, his rant reflects a supreme disconnect with the possibility of a cure being developed and why lockdowns are so important during this pandemic.
While there might be nothing we can do to save local businesses if we are locked down, it is well within the federal government's power to help out small businesses and create generative stimulus bills to make sure everyone survives this pandemic intact and prepared for re-entry back into the world.